Love's Sorrowful Symphony
by Howlingwolf94
Summary: With the 14th gone, Allen and Lenalee thought they'd be able to have an actual relationship. But they were sorely mistaken. It has been discovered that they contain the heart and the Earl will not rest until they are dead. Sequel to Doubt and Trust.
1. Perfect Gift

Ch. 1: Perfect Gift

It was Christmas Eve, holiday festivities decorating the Black Order's walls. Everyone was in the spirit of the holiday, well, everyone if you didn't count Kanda that is. Komui was humming some Christmas tunes, occasionally taking a sip of the eggnog that filled his coffee mug as he made his way to his office. All would've been perfect if only Lenalee had decided to come for the holidays.

She was currently in China, staying at the Asian Branch with the still comatose Allen. He had tried to convince her to at least celebrate Christmas with him and all her friends, who had since returned to the Black Order, for a couple of days. As they conversed over the phone almost a week ago, he could hear the sweet and innocent smile that was surely on her face as she politely declined the offer. She stated that Allen needed someone to keep him company.

Komui then countered with stating that there were plenty of people in the Asian Branch to keep him company while she was gone for a few days. Somehow, annoyance slipped into her voice for a reason that Komui was still trying to figure out. It couldn't have been him, seeing as how he hadn't created another marvelous plan that no one seemed willing to hear out these days. Well, at least not yet. But enough of himself, back to the conversation he had shared with his precious Lenalee.

She had then proceeded to pull out her wild card: What if Allen woke up? She did have a fairly decent point. Bak had reported not two days ago that somehow, Allen's innocence managed to return back to its accommodator, reverting back to its dormant state as his left arm. And days before that, a nurse passing by had noticed the slight twitch of his fingers, his eyes moving under closed lids. Both were telltale signs of someone who could wake up any day now.

But nonetheless, he still missed his dear, sweet Lenalee very much. He was feeling jealous now that Lenalee was devoted to someone other than him as well and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Of course it was understandable to want to stay by someone's side while they were sick or injured but this was different. He had heared it with his own ears when they had declared their love for the other, so it wasn't like he could live in deception. And watching them kiss? That had been unbearable.

But he was going to just have to accept it. His caring little sister was becoming an independent and beautiful young lady and it was only natural for her to feel curious about romance. Sure, he'll accept that but, that doesn't mean he'll go easy on Allen. No sir, that boy will be going through hell if he did anything to remotely upset his Lenalee. After all, Komurins didn't take that long to make. Oh well, maybe he'll develop a Komurin specifically for Allen as a sort of 'welcome back' and a 'how dare you hog my Lenalee!!!'. He'd surely find amusement at watching Allen run away for dear life. It'd be fun. The thought cheered him as he continued his way to his office

*&*

Lenalee sat in a chair next to Allen's bedside, her hand never leaving his. It was steadily reaching Christmas day and also nearing the day decided as Allen's birthday. It was still the afternoon and she had yet been able to find any of her friends or her brother something for the holiday. Most of all, she hadn't found anything for Allen. For someone who didn't ask for a lot of things, he was sure hard to buy for. Nothing she saw the last couple of days had seemed to match Allen at all. But what made it worst was that she knew he would love anything he gave him and she wanted it to be at least perfect. Something special.

Maybe she'd have better luck in finding something for everyone today. Giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, she quickly looked to see if anyone was coming before placing a tender kiss on his cheek. She hadn't mentioned to Bak, or any one in the Asian Branch for that matter, about her and Allen's relationship. She would like to keep these things private, already fine with the few people back at headquarters who already knew. And she wanted to keep it that way.

At times, it was extremely hard to keep her tongue in check because whenever she would leave and return a couple hours later, she would always find Lo Fwa in the same spot she had been in, holding his hand like she was his girlfriend. Anger would always flicker up in her, hiding it behind her usual gentle demeanor before politely grabbing the young scientist's attention. And every time, she would run away with a blush on her face from embarrassment. All this trouble could be avoided if they could just bring Allen back home but he was still far too injured to transfer to headquarters and the Crows would be on him like vultures if they found out he was there in secret. So they would just have to resort to keeping him here for the time being.

Running off to the nearest market place, she left Allen to himself for now. With the steady drone of all the working machines and constant drip of the I.V, all would have thought it was normal in the dormant young man's room. So no one noticed one of Allen's hands switch from it resting on top of some blankets before slowly clenching the blanket within his grip.

*&*

Lenalee slowly walked down the crowded streets of the market place, people pushing and shoving for last minute gifts. She was getting very nervous with the fact that she might not find anything with this much people around. Resorting to sticking near the shops lining the streets, she took glances every now and then at some of the passing shops. While walking past a clothes shop, she stopped in front of a jacket that had caught her eye.

Stopping in front of it, she stared down in amusement at the jacket in front of her. It was a nice soft black jacket, the sleeves going past the usual length a jacket would have. On the back of the jacket was a red embroidered Chinese symbol that read: rabbit. This was an amazing find in Lenalee's book. It hadn't even been there yesterday.

The jacket brought back a resent conversation she had with Lavi before he left to return to the Black Order.

"_Oi, Lenalee, you owe me a new jacket."_

"_What?! Why?"_

"_Because your boyfriend over there ruined my favorite one. And seeing as how he's out of it right now, I'll put it upon you to replace it."_

"_But…"_

"_No buts, you owe me a new jacket and that's that."_

She smiled at herself as she picked up the jacket and went over to buy it. This jacket would be perfect for Lavi. Not only was it a jacket that she get him but it also was sort of a pay back as well. And surely Kanda would find amusement from a jacket that called Lavi a rabbit also. And she wasn't planning on telling him what it meant either.

Paying for the jacket, she secured the bag to her arm and continued her journey in finding something for the rest of her friends. A couple of shops later, she had found some seeds to an exotic plant found only in China for Krory, a pocket watch for Miranda, and some dark blue Chinese robes for Kanda. Now all that was left was something for her brother and Allen. Walking further down into the turning roads within the market place, she continued her search.

The further she went the more and more things she hadn't noticed before. Most of the things being of older dissent. With it, she found a rather interesting book pertaining to the history of China, something she knew Komui would enjoy reading. And to make it up to him, she managed to find a nice white silk scarf that would go perfect with his white uniform. Now she had found everyone something, now it was time to find Allen something.

Changing sides so that she was now on the opposite side of where she had been and began scanning the shops. The further a long she went, the more doubt filled her at the prospect of finding him something special. And once all hope seemed lost, she finally found something that fit exactly with what she was looking for. Looking at the item, she picked it up and looked it over before smiling as she purchased the item. Now that everything was set, she was on her way back to the Asian Branch.

*&*

Closing the door to her room behind her as she left, Lenalee calmly walked to Allen's room, the weight of having to find everyone something having been lifted. It was now dark as night began setting in. All her troubles felt like nothing until she made it to Allen's room.

Stopping at the door frame, she looked into the room like she usually did before actually entering, expecting to see what she normally saw. But instead of finding Allen's unwaking form lying in the medical bed, she was greeted with the picture of a frantic Lo Fwa and an empty bed looking like someone had just gotten out of it themselves. With mouth gaping, she stood there frozen for a moment before turning and running down one of the long halls, hoping against hope that Allen wasn't gone from her yet again.

_Author's Note: I'm very sorry that I couldn't update sooner but my sister who also has an account has been hogging the computer as of late, limiting the amount of time I have on it. Otherwise, this would have been posted on Wednesday. This story will probably be longer but I'm not sure yet. Please Review. For those who are just jumping into this, you might want to read Doubt and Trust before doing any further reading with this one._


	2. Is this real or not

Ch. 2: Is this real or not

_Allen laid there with no conscious thought flowing through his head, his eyes half lidded as they stared dully into space. Memories of his life and what had happened these last couple of months were slowly coming back to him. He didn't know where he was, all he knew was thoughts and memories that were of his own were returning to him, filling in the gaps to his once empty mind. _

_If he had been aware of his surroundings, he would have noticed the deep red sky that had been mixed with purple to make it look like the day Mana had been turned into an akuma. The grass he laid upon was losing its color as it began dying all around. A dead, leaf less tree loomed over the surroundings, its shadow overcastting a lone grave. It was in the shape of a cross, belonging to his foster father: Mana._

_The memories started to slow down in pace as it reached the final moments up till the moment he had died. The flow of memories had mainly been quick, normally flashes of his life before and after becoming an exorcist, the process seeming to take only a couple of minutes. He watched as he struggled to speak out what he wanted to be known only to see that he couldn't. Instead, he watched in understanding as the memory of himself kissed the one he would die for. Lenalee. _

_Watching himself die was sort of poetic in a sense. Not many people got to see their own funerals. Maybe this was what happened when you died. You'd be a void containing no memories until they gradually returned to you. After that, he'd probably be put to rest once and for. Maybe he'd see Mana again._

_That had been his subconscious speaking. In reality, he wasn't thinking at all. No thought entered his head or exited out in speech. He simply just laid there on the dead grass as he stared up at the sky; the colors going unregistered for all he could watch was himself die._

*&*

Slowly, his consciousness was starting to wake up, his body feeling completely numb at the moment. As his senses groggily came back to him, he could finally feel his body again and the bandages, the wires, and tubes that were connected to him. Opening his eyes hesitantly, he could barely make out the speeding drone of one of the machines through the buzzing sound that was ringing through his ears. His vision was blurred, causing everything that he looked at to become blobs of color as they mixed together to make some unknown object.

With vision slowly returning into focus, the buzzing sound slowly dying down, he could finally tell where he was. He was at the Asian Branch in one of the hospital rooms. Turning his head to side, he stared at the erratic movement of one of the machines that was monitoring his heart as it started beating faster, before shakingly pulling the wires sticking to his chest. Tossing them to the side, he watched for a moment as the heart monitor flat lined from the lack of monitoring his heart.

Looking at his right arm, he quickly yanked the I.V drip dug into his skin, ignoring the sharp pain that came with it. His mind didn't register the pain as it continued to swim around the storm of thoughts. _Why am I here? Am I dead? Is this what death is like? If I'm dead, will I see others that have passed away as well? Where is the 14__th__? Is this even real?!_

Sitting up slowly, he turned his body so that his legs hung from the side of the bed, just barely skimming the floor as he looked down at his bandaged legs. Stepping down onto it carefully, a jolt of pain raced through his legs from the unpleasantness of having to stand on still healing burns that laced around his legs. But like before, his mind wasn't registering the pain as he defied the screaming agony that throbbed non stop as he forced himself to walk. Still, that didn't mean his body wasn't registering the fact as he stumbled multiple times as he leaned heavily on one of the walls before making his way out of the room in search of answers.

Sluggishly walking down the halls, he was pondering on the fact that so far, he hadn't seen anyone. Maybe he was alone in this. Finally making it past the multiple halls that contained the rooms of the people who worked or stayed here, he had finally made it to the huge door that was guarded by the deity Fo. All this walking had taken him hours to do and as he made his way to a corner, he fell down to the side, harshly landing on the wound still healing on his chest. As the wound became reopened from the front, blood steadily began soaking through the once cotton white substance. Ignoring that as well, he crawled the rest of the way to the corner, sitting there patiently as he tried to call out to someone. But it was of no use. His voice was very hoarse from lack of use and no sound would come out of it. Was this his personal hell?

*&*

Lenalee was frantic by now as she searched and searched for Allen, the search seeming to become futile with each passing minute. Running down the mostly empty halls, she continued to call out his name in desperation, some of the others searching for him as well. The moon was high up in the sky by now, some of its rays shining into the front part of the building, the only part that had an entrance and exit to the outside world along with windows surrounded and glassed with dark matter.

As she was about to past the spot, she stopped when she noticed the moonlight illuminate something white. It was white hair. She had finally found Allen. Approaching the corner he was in, she stopped in shock at what she found. Allen was sitting there with his knees pulled tight against his chest as he rocked back and forth, muttering something under his breath as he rested his head on his knees. The bandages that had been wrapped around his legs were spotted with blood, the result of having walked when the wounds weren't ready.

Getting down to his level, she slowly got closer to him, reaching out a hand to grab his attention as it hovered over his shoulder. Placing it gently down, she could feel him jump from surprise as he seized to do his rocking. Staying like that for a few seconds, he then went back to rocking back and forth faster, burying his head further down against his knees. Moving even closer to him, she could finally make out what he was repeating to himself.

"This isn't real, I'm dead….this isn't real, I'm dead….this isn't real, I'm dead…."

Listening to him reassure himself that he was dead was heart braking to Lenalee, who didn't know what to do. Watching him for a couple of minutes, she could tell he was crying as tears slide down his legs, his small voice cracking harshly the harder his tears fell. With hand still placed on his shoulder, she decided that she had to do something, anything, to bring Allen back to reality.

Placing the other hand on his other shoulder, she began to gently shake him. That had no affect for he only cringe further in fear as he struggled to ignore the gentle pull and push back and forth. Letting go of his body, she watched him for a moment again, tears beginning to come to her eyes.

"…Allen…"

This had caused him to release his hold around his legs as he switched to clutching his head, thinking that it was only in his head, still rocking back and forth. She felt hopeless once again before she pulled him into a loving embrace. He struggled against her hold, resulting in her being punched in the face as he knocked her back. Falling to the ground, she gently placed a hand over the obviously swelling spot on her cheek as blood vessels rose.

Looking back at Allen, she saw that he was actually looking at her this time, his eyes blood shot from the multitude of his crying he had been doing. Both were staring at each other, Lenalee slowly getting back into a sitting position. Then she could hear him say something hoarsely to her.

"You're not real. This is all just a trick created by the 14th in order to make me think this is real so that he can have complete control over me."

"That's not true. As far as we know it, the 14th is gone. He's gone Allen. He isn't coming back."

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying, it's the truth."

"This can't be real because you're not real. None of this real. I'm dead."

A flicker of anger rose inside her as she listened to him continue to deny everything she said in order to convince him. His mind was set. He believed he was still dead.

"I'm real Allen."

"You're not real because if you were, then you'd be dead. You can't be dead. I can only be dead. You are nothing but a figmentation of my heart's one true desire. And that was to see you."

Bringing back her hand, she struck him across the face, finding out that she couldn't hold back the anger inside her. She knew it wasn't his fault that he was like this but he was still putting up resistance. As if he didn't want to believe any of this could be real.

"Ok…fine…don't believe this is real and that I'm real. But believe this is real."

Cupping his face within her hands, she covered his mouth with her own as she kissed him. At first, he was struggling to get out of the kiss but slowly, he accepted it. After a moments while, both stared at each other as they broke apart from the kiss.

"Lenalee…"

Hearing him say her name was enough to tell her that he was willing to believe this was real and that he was actually alive. Tears were falling down both of their faces as she pulled him back into a comforting embrace, both crying into the other's shoulder.

"I'm…I'm alive…"

"Yes Allen…you are alive…and this is real…"

_Author's Note: Alright…just a heads up, with this whole sister thing, I might not be able to update as much, maybe if I'm lucky. Thank you everyone who has reviewed and especially to those who are sticking with this fanfic just like the previous one. After thinking about it, I've concluded that this one will defiantly be longer and I might do a spin off along the way. I'll keep you updated as best as I can and I hope you liked this chapter just as much as the last one. Please review._


	3. Fragile State

Ch. 3: Fragile State

Lenalee and Allen walked slowly back to his room, allowing him to lean heavily against her for support while taking a long journey towards their attended destination. Both were silent, both listening to the sounds of Lenalee's footsteps, Allen's mainly being dragged along for the ride as they slid across the marble floor. Finally having snapped out of his little moment, he was feeling the full affects of the pain course through his body, every little movement causing him pain.

He had his right arm draped over her shoulder, pressing his left hand against the opposite wall in an attempt to not put his full weight down on Lenalee. She was struggling to support him by herself, his over all build slightly larger than hers. With his help, it wasn't too hard as she kept her arms wrapped around his midsection, keeping one hand pressed upward against his lower chest.

Turning her head to look at him, she stared at his profile for a moment as he looked forward. She must have been staring at him for at least five minutes and in that time, he hadn't looked at her once. Cocking her head to the side, she let her mind wander for a moment, trying to figure out what was bothering him so much that he wouldn't look at her. She had forgiven him for the punch so it couldn't be that. So what was it?

"Is something wrong?"

"No…what makes you ask that?"

"It's just that…we've been so quiet so far and you haven't even looked at me once while I've been staring at you almost the whole time."

"You have?"

"Yes, I have…and don't give me that excuse about you being in deep thought. That won't work this time. So tell me what's bothering you."

Her remark had caused him to laugh, his chest rising up rapidly from his laughing fit which began causing Lenalee some trouble of holding him. Noticing her trouble, he tried to calm down, struggling to hold back his laughter. He hadn't laughed that hard in a while and it made him feel better. Even if only a little.

"I'm sorry Lenalee, but nothing is bothering me or is on my mind right now. Sure I'm glad to be alive and the 14th gone but that wasn't dominating my thoughts. I'm just glad to be able to be with you for a change. And sorry I haven't returned your gaze when you said you were staring at me, I didn't know."

"How can someone not know when someone is staring at them? Isn't it like a sixth sense that everyone has that tells them that someone is staring at them. And wouldn't you notice me staring at you from the corner of your eye? I've been staring at you for quite some time now."

"That's a comforting thought…but I didn't see you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like I couldn't see you. I can't see very well out of my right eye. I think it had something to do with the 14th while he was fighting the Earl. The Earl had sent a huge amount of dark matter at my body and did a lot of damage to my eye. I can only just vaguely make out splashes of color. That's it. I mean, sure I'd be able to see you fine if we stood face to face but like this, it would be hard to tell the difference if it was you or Kanda."

That remark had caused them both to laugh as the finished the rest of there journey in calming silence. Making it to his room, she found it shrouded in shadows, void of any light at the moment. Groping the darkness for a while, she finally managed to find his bed as she gently helped him back in it. While he was crawling back into his bed, she went over and turned on one of the gassed power lamps, causing a flame to flicker into existence as it illuminated the room in a relaxing glow.

Once feeling satisfied, she turned back to him as he laid there for a moment as he warily poked his bandages, reminding her that he was still bleeding and needed some fresh ones. Hastily grabbing some out of a nearby cabinet, she walked over to him as he began unraveling them slowly, most of it sticking to him because of the sticky blood.

She couldn't help but blush slightly at seeing his muscles unveiled from behind the bandages. He was very well toned for someone his age. He wasn't overly muscular, something she didn't like in most of the guys she's seen; he was just right. Noticing her staring at him, a blush began to creep up onto his cheeks as he looked away in semi-embarrassment.

Shaking the blush away, she tightened her grip around the bandages before moving forward to begin bandaging him up. Placing some of it down on his midsection, she began to unwined it as she wrapped it around him, moving up in order to cover the wound. Both stayed in silence as she patched him up, her stopping every so often when she noticed him wince in pain when she wrapped it around him too tight.

When she was finished with that, she looked down at his legs, a little afraid to see the product of so many burns just beginning to heal only to be antagonized again when he had walked. Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to slowly unravel it from around one of his legs. The result wasn't as bad as she thought it would be but it still wasn't something pleasant to stare at all day. Discolored patches of blood red and dark pink laced up his legs, most of it blistering and cracked as fresh blood slowly streamed down his legs. Starting at the base of his ankle, she began wrapping it in fresh bandages, steadily moving up along the way. She did the same to his other leg, both having taken her at least 30 minutes together. All in all, it had taken her almost up to two hours until he was properly set.

Sliding down into her chair, she let out a tired sigh as she lazily watched him inspect her handiwork. Over all, he was grateful for the new bandages and the amount of skill she had put into making sure he didn't have to endure too much pain along the way. Giving her a grateful smile, he flopped back down onto his bed, laying on his right side as he stared at her with love in his eyes. She in return gave him a small smile as she rested her head against his bed, sleep overpowering her after a very long and eventful day.

Allen watched her as she succumbed to the sleep before gently grabbing her hand into his as gently placed a kiss against her delicate skin. He held her hand tight before slowly releasing it as he too began drifting off to sleep.

*&*

_Allen was staring into one of his most dreadful memories. The day he had met the Earl for the very first time and when he had tried to bring back his foster father as an akuma. He watched as the grief stricken form of his younger self stared absent mindly into space as he sat in front of Mana's grave stone. Then out of no where, the Earl had showed up and was making a deal with his still naive younger self who still didn't know better._

_He watched helplessly as he relived the very same mistake he still carried on his shoulders even to this day fold out. As the very first stage of an akuma became harbored with the soul of Mana, he reluctantly watched as the piece of machinery was forced to turn on the boy who he had considered his son. Knocking the boy down as it yelled at him, Mana delivered his ever present curse. To see the grieving souls of akuma who shamelessly brought back into the world by the ones they loved. _

_Then something different happened. Instead of continuing on like he remembered it, Mana instead looked directly at the present him, the only one actually noticing he was even there. A sharp pain erupted from his left eye as it began ooze down blood, as if he had suffered the wound instead of his younger counterpart. As he covered his bleeding eye, akuma Mana rushed at him, knocking him down while the rest of the scene seemed to freeze at the spot. With daggered like arms raised, he brought one down as he pinned him to the ground, piercing his right shoulder. The other arm was still held up high as he threw his head back, bellowing out his name._

"_ALLEN!!!"_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_You don't get to be sorry. I hate you for doing this to me! You don't deserve to live!!" _

*&*

Allen shot straight up out of bed, his heart racing and his body covered in sweat as his mind started returning to the real world. And as his mind slowly became aware of his surroundings, he became vaguely aware that he had been screaming. Breathing in heavily, he hugged himself as he began rocking back and forth, losing himself to this now ever present feeling of deeming himself worthy of being dead.

Panic rose in him upon feeling someone shake his shoulders in desperation. Darkness was everywhere; the room felt like it was spinning, making him feel claustrophobic. Then the flicker of a light came on and he was greeted with the face of a panicking Lenalee as she tried to bring him back to reality like last time.

"Allen…Allen! It was only a nightmare. That and nothing else."

Allen looked at her dumbly before the feeling of sadness came over him once more as tears of understanding and sorrow crept down his face. He watched her as she pick up some of the fallen items that he must have knocked down subconsciously during his nightmare. As she motioned to the slightly open door, the feeling of panic rose within once more as the only thing that had been able to protect him appeared to be leaving.

"No…NO! Please, don't go! Don't leave me here alone. Please stay with me. I don't want to be alone."

All she did was close the door before turning to face him once again, a caring smile on her face that put him at ease. He watched her as she locked the door behind her before hesitantly crawling into his bed with him. Both were staring at each other as she made the first move and began to gently push him back down against the soft comforter. Following her desire to lay down, he compelled to her wish before looking at her with so much desperation that Lenalee couldn't just allow him to lay there all alone.

Thanking herself that her brother wasn't there, she slowly allowed herself to sink down into the mattress as well as the laid still staring at one another. The tears were beginning to die down after a while before she decided to turn of the lamp light. Immediately upon extinguishing, she could hear the soft sounds of him beginning to sob once again as his fear began to return. Moving closer to him, she was quickly confronted with his form as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him as a reassurance. He was trembling violently.

As he cried in their embrace like that of a child, Lenalee took no disregard to the fact and held him tight as well. His mind was still very fragile after having endured so much unknown torture and the prospect of having been dead for almost 20 minutes. He needed to be given some credit. If it were any normal person, they'd be crazy 24-7. But this was Allen and he managed to have this response triggered by something traumatic. And whatever his nightmare had been, it surely had been that.

"Shh…it's ok Allen…I'm here."

_Author's Note: Please review._


	4. Birthday Present

Ch. 4: Birthday Present

Bak was frantic as he ran down the nearly dead hallways, still looking for Allen. He was causing such a commotion that he had invertible woken up an angry Fo in the process.

"Baka Bak! Some people are trying to sleep you know."

"Sorry Fo but I'm looking for Allen. He's gone missing. Have you seen him?"

"If I tell you, will you shut up?"

"Ofcourse!"

"I haven't seen him."

Her answer had caused him to fall to his feet in defeat, his face breaking out in hives.

"I thought you said you knew where he was!"

"I didn't say I knew where he was, you miss interpreted what I asked. I asked if you would shut up if I told you. And you did."

"I don't have time for games Fo, are you going to help me or not?"

"Might as well, I won't be able to get some sleep if YOU are the one searching for him."

"Well, I promised Lenalee I would help find him."

"Why am I not surprise."

Now it was a search party of two as they scoured just about the whole base. With the help of Fo and the cameras he had set up around the whole building, it didn't take them long to find out that they had no clue where he was. Giving a heavy sigh in defeat, Bak fell to the floor in hopelessness.

"Cheer up Bak. What is the last place we have yet to look at?"

"I believe it was his room in the medical center."

"Then let's check there."

"Why?"

"Because it's the last place we haven't looked at baka!"

Bak decided that he might as well check it out. Both walked to his room in awkward silence. Bak, who was spewing hopelessness and Fo, who was brimming with aggravation. Making it to the door, he placed his hand on the door knob, only to find it locked. Trying a couple of times more, he looked at Fo expectantly. She let out an angry sigh before going through the door as if it were nothing.

"Sheesh, I've got to do everything around here."

Making it to the other side, she strained her eyes as they tried to adjust to the dark. She could make out a dying sobbing sound coming from the bed. Walking over to the bed side, she tried to make out was there but find out she was unable to. So instead, she did the next best thing. She turned on the lamp. Maybe that hadn't been such a good idea.

"Fo, is he there or not!"

Fo just stood there, not answering back to Bak. She stared in puzzlement once she noticed Lenalee rise up from the bed, holding a whimpering Allen in her arms. Both of them stared at each other, a blush blazing profusely across Lenalee's cheeks. Quickly looking back down at Allen, she gently placed him back down so that he was laying in the bed. He motioned to get up but she simply rested her hand on his shoulder, giving him a delicate smile as sign that said that he shouldn't get up. Once satisfied that he wasn't going to follow her, she looked back at Fo as she stood up in front of the deity.

"Fo, please, it's not what you think."

"Lenalee!? Is that you?"

Both of them turned their heads to the door, staring at the piece of wood that was still locked. This was just what she needed. Sweat dropping, she walked over to the door, unlocked it, and opened the door, causing Bak to come falling in. He fell clumsily to the floor, having not expected it to be opened while he was leaning on it in order to hear what was going on the other side.

Picking himself off the floor, he looked to Lenalee, then to Fo, and then resting his eyes on a trembling Allen. He stared in puzzlement for a moment before fainting to the ground.

*&*

Lenalee closed the door gently as she entered Bak's study, Bak sitting in one of the chairs as he sipped some nice hot tea. Looking at the door, she let her thought linger back to Allen, hoping that he was sleeping ok and wouldn't need her while she was gone. Clearing his throat to grab her attention, she turned to face him as he motioned her to sit in the opposite chair.

"Don't worry. Fo is keeping an eye on him. She'll let us know if anything happens again."

Nodding to him, she sat down opposite of him as he poured her a cup of tea. Handing her the steaming cup, she gladly took a sip of it, before placing down on the table that separated them. Both were silent for a moment before Bak became the one to break the ice.

"I take it you were the one to find him."

"Yes, I found him huddled over in a corner near the entrance. If it weren't for the moon, I wouldn't have noticed he was there."

"I see. Tell me, is there something wrong with him? He didn't seem like he did the last time I've seen him."

"I…I don't know. When I found him, it was like he was having a nervous break down or something like that. He was delusional. He…he thought he was still dead. I managed to snap him out of it and brought him back to his room. Later on in the night, he woke up screaming. His tossing and turning had woken me up, since I had fallen asleep in one of the chairs again. So, at first, all he could do was watch until you know, he woke up screaming. He was having another one of those panic attacks again. But this time it was easier to calm him down. I don't know if he's snapped out of this yet though."

"You have failed to mention how you've been calming him down. Is there something you're not telling me."

"…the first time…I kissed him and that snapped him out of it. The second time…I crawled into bed with him and held him close…hoping that he'd fall asleep again if…my presence was close to him…"

She had been fiddling around with the hem of her skirt, trying to avoid the possible look that was on his face. As the duration of the awkward silence increased, the further the blush would burn on her cheeks. The silence was making her nervous.

"…it helps him calm down you say…"

"…yes…but please don't tell my brother about this…he'd throw a fit if he found out that I had been in Allen's bed with him. But I swear to you that we didn't do anything. We're not at that stage in our relationship."

"You and Walker are dating."

Crap. So much for keeping that a secret from the Asian Branch.

"Yes. And Komui knows, he just might not want to accept it right now. You can tell him about Allen but please don't tell him about my part in this."

"I promise."

"Thank you Bak."

She got out of her chair and gave him a quick curtsey before exiting his room, her tea half finished. Bak had kept his hands over his mouth, making him look even more serious with his expressionless face. Once she was gone, he let his guard drop and brought his face down against the table. He had been nervous the whole conversation, and was glad his hives hadn't broken out during it. Thank goodness it was over.

*&*

Morning had finally come, the whole interior of the building filling in with light from some of the rays from the sky. It was Christmas at last. Allen laid in his bed, the covers sprawled everywhere as he groggily began to wake up. The room wasn't in complete darkness anymore and that made him feel happier for some reason.

Rubbing his eyes and giving a big yawn, his mind was starting to vaguely remember what had happened last night. He had broken down again in front of Lenalee. Shame washed over him as he recalled what had happened that night. What was wrong with him? Did part of him come back insane from all the torture and pain he had experience? Was that part of him that would cause him to lose it whenever something bad happened or trauma he would relive ever go away?

A knock to his door had drove him out of his thoughts as he looked back up at the door. Whoever it was had let themselves in, relief coursing through him upon finding out that it was Lenalee. She had her arms behind her back, concealing whatever it was she wanted to show him.

"Good morning Lenalee."

"Good morning Allen and happy birthday."

She revealed what had been behind her back. It was medium sized box with holes hear and there. Handing him the gift, Allen stared at surprised, it furthering when the box would squirm around. Looking down at the gift and then back to Lenalee, he stared at her with mouth slightly open. He had totally forgotten that today was his birthday.

"What are you waiting for. Open it."

Closing his mouth, he looked back down at the gift before neatly untying the ribbon that was wrapped around it. Once the ribbon was out of the way, he removed the lid of the box, a whirlwind of fur jumping out of it. This had caught him of guard as the thing that had been in the box began licking his face with it's pink tongue. The feel of the tongue across his face was causing him to laugh as he struggled to actually get a good look at his gift. He could hear Lenalee giggle as she pulled whatever the thing was out of his face. Wiping away the slobber that covered his cheeks, he looked back up at the white little puppy that wiggled around in her arms.

He was in amazement. No one had ever given a gift like this before. It reminded him of the little dog that Mana had had when they traveled around the world as traveling clowns. The puppy was a ball of energy as it wagged its little tail in joy as it tried to get back at licking Allen's face. It gave a small bark as a sign that he wanted to be let go and back with him. Seeing this, Lenalee allowed it back on his bed, it running directly to his face.

"What do you think?"

"I love him Lenalee. He reminds me of the dog Mana had. But if you don't mind me asking, why a puppy?"

"I thought you might enjoy having some fun in your life. And besides, it's a good thing I got you a puppy because I might not always be there to comfort you when you have…you know…those breakdowns. Maybe having a dog around will be good for you."

"Thank you Lenalee. This is the present anyone has ever given me. But I don't have anything for you."

"Don't worry about. Your happiness is payment enough."

Allen gave her a caring smile before wrapping his arms around, pulling her into a hug. He wasn't going to just not get anything for her for Christmas. He'd find something to show his appreciation, hopefully something equally as good as her gift. Separating from the embrace, the puppy switched to licking Lenalee now, his tongue causing her to laugh just as Allen had when he was having his face licked. Allen was laughing as well, picking up the puppy and bringing it closer to her face when she tried to move away. Now the puppy was licking like crazy now that he was able to get a better position. By now, Lenalee was squealing from the tickling sensation of the rough tongue, trying in vain to get away. Times like these he would always treasure.

_Author's Note: I might not update in a while because of 1)School and 2) party coming up this weekend. I decided to go with a puppy for Allen because he needs to be cheered up and have a companion just in case he has to go somewhere alone or a mission or something like that. And it will help a little with his breakdowns. So tell me what you think and please review._


	5. Evening Stroll

Ch. 5: Evening Stroll 

"Lenalee, are you sure you want to stay here with me? You could be spending Christmas with your brother back at headquarters."

"I'm perfectly fine spending it here with you. Come on, let's go for a walk outside. It's a beautiful day today."

"Not to be a buzz-kill or anything but, I don't think I can walk anywhere for too long."

"That's why I planned ahead."

She stepped out for a moment before coming back pushing a wheelchair into the room. _'Great…now I'll really look like an old man…'_

"I'll go get you a shirt. Be right back."

"Take your time."

He watched her as she left again, stroking the fluffy white bundle that laid across his lap. What should he name the little guy? He had…no idea. While he was pondering on some possible names, Lenalee had returned once again with a shirt along with a jacket. Sliding the wheelchair to the left side of his bed, she placed the shirt on the seat and picked up the still sleeping puppy.

Turning his body to the side, he let his bandaged legs dangle off the side as he went for the shirt. He had his back to her and as he moved to put the shirt on, he her let out a small gasp.

"What?"

"Your back."

"What about my back?"

"When did you get that?"

"Get what?!"

"That symbol branded on your back."

He froze upon realizing what she was talking about. As he turned his head to look over his shoulder, trying in vain to see the Chinese symbol that had been burned onto his shoulder blade, he shivered when he felt Lenalee's smaller hand brush past the puffed up scar. Her touch was sort of hypnotic as her delicate fingers continued to trace the symbol.

"How did you get that?"

"It was burned into my back."

"When did you get it?"

"Back…back when I was locked up at the Black Order."

When he had said that, he could feel her hand stop over the symbol. Her hand rested there for a while, trembling against the puffed scar. Turning his head back forward, he let it droop as he imagined her form in front of him seething with rage from his answer.

"I'm sorry, it's just that…they didn't need to put that on your back."

"It fit me perfectly when I got it. The meaning makes sense for me. I was and maybe still am forever lost."

"No you're not. Maybe in the beginning you were but not now. You will never be lost if we stay together. Something inside me is telling me so."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Well…are going on a walk or not? Hurry and put on that shirt. We could use some fresh air right about now."

"Whatever you say."

He pulled over the black low cut v-neck collared shirt onto his body, the shirt fitting him decently. Shaking his head to help move his almost shoulder length white hair out of his face. As he was brushing it aside, he felt Lenalee pull back the excess hair, tying into a short yet loose pony-tail. Giving her a gracious smile, he grabbed the jacket and put it over the shirt, leaving it unzipped for now. Pulling on one of the handles attached to the wheelchair, he tugged it over close enough to be able to slip into it.

Making himself comfortable, he wheeled himself over to one of the side tables, taking the pair of gloves resting on the surface. Covering his hands with them, he tugged on them until he was satisfied that they would stay on his hands. As Lenalee motioned to get behind the wheeled chair, he stopped her with a raise of his hand. He wanted to do this on his own.

While he gave her a small smile symbolizing that he wanted to do this himself, she deflated upon seeing both his resilience and stubbornness before she reluctantly allowed him to carry out his wish of doing it himself. Opening the door wide enough for him to easily pass through, placing the amazingly still asleep puppy back across his lap.

"Fine, if you're going to be like that then you're carrying Bai."

"Bai?"

"He's got to have a name Allen. We can just keep on calling him puppy you know."

"Your right…what does it mean? It's Chinese right?"

"Right. It means white."

"White, oh how original."

"Well it's better than nothing. Besides, you don't have to interpret the name as the color. You can think of it as pure or innocent. Which ever you rather prefer."

"I guess Bai can work for now. It'll have to do until a better name comes along."

"If a better name comes along."

"Whatever."

Making sure that the newly named Bai was safely placed on his lap so that he wouldn't fall off, he brought his hands down on the bordering wheels before slowly getting into the swing of moving around like this. Exiting first, Lenalee waited until he had made it to the other side of the door frame before actually following him, walking beside him as she matched his somewhat slow pace towards the front gates.

*&*

"Lord Millennium, when will we get to have our fun on Allen-kun?"

"I'm sorry my dear but I rather not have my children dirty their hands unless they have to. I've already got that covered."

"What did you have planned?"

"I already have some akuma stationed near the heart's present location. Due to the boy's present condition, he won't be able to last for too long against a horde of level 3s and a level 4 all at once. They won't know what hit them."

_Author's Note: Please par tend this short chapter. As you know, my sister has been on far much longer than me and normally, chapter like this would have taken only a day to do. Instead, its taken me two days and it would be longer but my sister is pestering me to get on. So this will have to end short and the next chapter WILL be longer and I'll update again for you all tomorrow to make it up to you all._


	6. Ambush

Ch. 6: Ambush

Allen and Lenalee continued going down the road that ran through the closes town, Bai chasing a stray butterfly hovering just inches above his head. Although the streets were filled with chattering people going about their normal routine, the fact that the wind wasn't blowing was vexing him terribly. The over all feeling was eerie, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. Someone or rather something was watching them from afar, calculating their every move.

He looked to Lenalee for a moment to see if she was feeling the same thing he was. She seemed unaffected as she continued laughing at Bai's attempts at trying to catch the butterfly. Maybe it was just him. Maybe he was just being paranoid. But something wouldn't let him shake the feeling away as he kept his senses on alert.

Lenalee looked back to him as he looked to the side as if looking for something. His hands gripped fiercely onto the side wheels, his knuckles more than likely white from the tight clinching. His body was also tense, as if he knew something she didn't. And whatever it was couldn't be good on any of their parts. She allowed herself to frown before asking him about it.

"What is it?"

She was never given an answer. All the sudden, he stopped the surprisingly faster pace he had forced the wheelchair to go, staring up at the sky with his eye activated. She looked to him and then back down to Bai, who had seized to chase the butterfly and instead, began growling out into the distance. Now a chill creped over for a split second, noticing surprisingly that, somehow, there were no more civilians in sight. One moment, the streets had been flooded with their presence and then the next, they had all managed to disappear from sight.

Now the hair was standing on the back of her neck as she looked frantically all around, hoping that what she thought it was wasn't what it really was. But she was sorely mistaken. Hovering just above the tree line in the distance appeared to be what had caused them all to become tense. It was a pack of akuma. And they were coming for them.

Her first instinct was to take them out while they still had a chance but she couldn't risk it. She couldn't leave Allen defenseless here while she went off to fight them. What if there were more lurking inside the trees, waiting for the right moment to strike. Deciding against that plan, she thought about the possibility of running. No, that was no good. She would only get so far while carrying both Allen and Bai before the akuma overpowered them all. She would just have to stay here and fight.

Allen had other plans. Slowly getting out of the comfort of sitting in a wheelchair, he shifted his weight so that he was standing up. He stumbled a few times from the strain it was causing him to just perform this simple task before he collected himself and activated his innocence while removing the glove. Bewilderment washed over Lenalee as she watched him prepare for the unavoidable battle that laid ahead. But he was still not ready for this type of strain. If they got through this, his wounds would reopen again and would take them even longer to heal. She wasn't about to let him fight unless circumstances called for it.

Activating her innocence in turn, she scooped the still growling Bai into her arms before passing him to Allen. He looked down at the puppy in confusion before looking back up at her with puzzlement in his eyes. He looked so cute when he was confused. Shaking that thought aside, she gave him a calm smile as she made sure he wouldn't put Bai back down.

"I'm not going to make you fight with me in this battle Allen."

"I won't let you just do this by yourself, they're after me, I know it."

"That's why I can't let you fight. You'll only endanger yourself if you do."

He was about to protest but she quickly stopped him by placing her finger against his lip. An idea had suddenly occurred to her just now.

"You're going to use your crown belt to help you escape. I'll deal with them. Do you understand."

"Lenalee…"

"You have to go, before it's too late!"

He stared at her with sorrow in his silver eyes as they stared into her pleading violet ones. Breaking the gaze with gritted teeth, he clenched his hands in frustration before following her wish for him to run while he still could. As the bellowing cape outstretched itself, the bottom of the cloak arranging itself to resemble a spider's web, he propelled himself forward, leaving his love to fight by herself.

Bai was barking fiercely by now, Allen having to force himself to flee from the battle and to not look back. If he did, he would only be back at Lenalee's side fighting the akuma with her. He choked back tears as the feeling of being useless and vulnerable washed over him, his inability to fight in a simple battle with akumas causing him to feel shame as well. But sadly, this wasn't going to be a simple battle against akumas. This group had a level 4 leading them after all.

*&*

As the akuma were nearing, Lenalee took to the skies, her anger and fear fueling her innocence. She immediately rammed into a pair of level 3s, taking them down with ease. Kicking one to the side, she flipped out of the way as one of them attempted to strike her before swinging the other akuma right into the other. While she had been preoccupied with that, she had failed to notice the akuma that coming in for the attack.

Looking up, it was too late as another akuma came crashing down upon her. The force had caught her off guard as they were sent crashing back down to the earth. Upon impact, the wind had been knocked out of her as she coughed up blood, the akuma wrapping a hand around her throat. As she struggled for air, she looked up to see some level 3s and the level four run after Allen.

Adrenaline was coursing through her as she some how managed to release the akuma's hold from around her neck and swept her leg underneath it's feet, causing it fall in a crumpled heap. Kicking it around like a soccer ball, she killed this one just as quickly as the last before wiping away the blood streaming down her chin. Now breathing heavily, she used her innocence to propel her forward as she raced after the remaining akuma and Allen.

*&*

Explosions sounded off from behind him, causing Allen to force himself even more to continue moving forward. The rustling in the distance was telling him that some of them were giving chase, trying to catch up to him. The eerie thought that that only meant that they had dispose of Lenalee played in his mind before he frantically shoved it away. He couldn't be thinking like that. Otherwise, he'd probably have another break down. And he didn't need that in the current situation.

Out of the tree line jumped out even more akuma. So that's where all those villagers went. Looking at all them frantically as they surrounded them, he jumped out of the way as the level 4 came crashing down. Crown belt wrapping around the closes tree trunk, he continued to evade the attacks with difficulty as the swings grew in speed. Bai was cowering in his arms, shivering in fear. Nothing should ever be exposed to this.

The continuous movement of having to switch from side to side quickly was starting to make him dizzy as his body was being tossed around. With him slowing down, the akuma was speeding up, finally landing a blow that sent him flying. Luckily, the strike had been to his shoulder, causing him the least bit of damage compared to having your back slammed against the trunk of an old tree.

Sliding down the bark of the tree, he landed harshly to the ground. His body was tense and it winced upon the displeasure of pain vibrating through out his body. Looking back down at the still trembling Bai in his arms, he moved him out of his arms and to the ground before slowly getting back to his feet with crown belt allowing him to hover over the ground. Bai was gone in a flash, taking shelter in the bushes.

Now back to being off the ground, he went to bring out the sword of exorcism but was assaulted once more with punches from the level 4. The others had formed a ring around them, watching as the two fought. It seemed like it knew Allen's every move, blocking and then punching or kicking him where he was left unguarded. He was aching all over, and the last best thing he could do was try in vain to dodge, which proved to be futile.

Grabbing a fist full of his hair, the level 4 swung him around, sending him flying to another tree. His crown belt had barely enough time to support him from falling but not enough to save him from slamming into the bark as well. Looking up with the once tied back hair streaming down over his face, he waited for the akuma to deliver the finishing blow.

Just when it was about to bash open his skull, Lenalee came crashing in, knocking the level 4 away from him. All the other akuma were enraged as they all came charging in to join the fray. Most of them were shoving her aside harshly to the trees, most of which she was able to prevent herself from slamming into like himself, or delivering a punch to her gut. They were all trying to prevent her from taking down the level 4. The closer she got, the harsher the blow.

Managing to find a little break in their defense tactic, she came charging down at the level 4, sinking her innocence powered legs into the head of the monster. As it twisted around in pain, the remaining akuma were upon her like a pack of hungry animals fighting over a piece of meat. One of the akuma managed to grab hold of one of her legs before twisting it into an awkward position. The added stress caused the bone to snap just bellow her knee.

The sudden extreme jolt of unexpected pain caused her to scream out in agony as she relinquished her attempts of getting out of the struggle. Allen watched horrified as the akuma obscured her from him as they continued to try and kill her. And before he knew it, before his mind even registered the fact, he had brought out the sword of exorcism and was now charging at them as he unleashed a battle cry. His eyes were cold and merciless as he attacked, the partial insanity that would consume him at times coming back full force, showing on his angered face. None were spared as he slashed them all in half, knocking them away from his love.

With both his blood and the blood of the akuma splattered across his face, he looked at the surrounding area frantically, just egging to lash out at anything that stood against him and Lenalee. The sudden movement of Lenalee from below almost caused him to go berserk again but upon realizing it was her, he returned his innocence back to its original form before falling down to the ground beside her.

She was clutching the broken leg to her as she struggled to stay conscious through all the pain. Cuts and bruises covered her body as she laid there battered and broken. Even the rise and fall of her chest was causing her pain, due to the fact that she had a few broken ribs. Cradling her in his arms, he got ready to make a hasty retreat back to the Asian Branch when a rustle near the bushes brought back his attention, causing him to immediately tense up.

Slowly making his way out of the bushes came out a whimpering Bai. At the moment, Allen was void of any thought except the one about protecting Lenalee, something he figured was his priority. As the puppy got closer, a savage growl erupted from Allen's throat, trying to drive the animal away. His growling caused the helpless puppy to whimper even more as it sank closer to the ground. To him, the puppy was just another thing that in his way of protecting Lenalee.

"Allen…that's your puppy…Bai."

Her sudden commit had drawn his attention away from the puppy and back to her, the growling dying down. Pain was clearly sketched in her features but her eyes were telling him to calm down. Looking back at the cowering dog, he moved over to it. Stopping above it, Bai too afraid to run, he outstretched a hand and grabbed hold of the puppy by the scruff before placing him in his hood for now. Redoubling his hold to make sure Lenalee would endure less pain than was needed, he began making the quick journey back to the Asian Branch headquarters.

_Author's Note: I hope this comes to everyone's satisfaction. Please Review._


	7. What just happened?

Ch. 7:What just happened?

Allen sat protectively in front of the door the doctors had carried Lenalee off into. They had kept him out of there for about 45 minutes now, causing his frustration to intensify with each passin minute. Unknowingly, he was still in his state of partial insanity, this being evident with his insinuous glaring at those who would simply walk past the door. And to those who got too close or would try to replace his bandages and dress the new wounds, a warning growl would be issued. No one would dare confront the troubled young man while he was still animalistic after that. Bak stood a little ways away, on the other line with Komui.

"What?! What happened? Is she alright?!"

"Yes yes, she's fine. It was only a fracture just below her knee. It should heal in a few weeks. But that is only a portion of the reason why I called you."

"What is it now?"

"Well...Allen is awake."

"Why is it that you are just telling me this now? By the tone of your voice, it sounds as if you've known about this for a while when you should have contacted me immediately after he had woken from the coma. What's wrong?"

"Allen...Allen isn't his normal self at times."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When he woke up, he had a sort of mental breakdown, or that's what I've been told. He thought he was still dead. Later on, the breakdown had been brought on again by a nightmare. And I haven't been given any details about what happened but whatever it was, it's left him in some kind of primitive state. He's been sitting at Lenalee's door like a guard dog or something ever since the doctors to her in there to set her leg. He won't let anyone get near him or the door unless it's one of the doctors coming or going."

"Is there a way to snap him out of it?"

"Yes...the only person that has been able to bring him back has been Lenalee. Somehow, she has this calming affect over him that drives back the insanity that dwells within him. Is there a possibility that the two of them would be able to return to the Black Order headquarters anytime soon? Maybe that would help in some way. Komui?"

"...I will try to create a way for him to come because I know that the Crows are still unwilling to belive that the 14th is gone and that Lenalee will not come on her own. The whole order is willing to put all of the recent events aside, as if it never happened. Allen has been a major influence here and a lot of people now wish for his return. And I wish to see my sister again."

"So does that mean they will be able to return to the Black Order?"

"It is a possibility but I won't make any promises. I will let you know tomorrow whether or not I'll be able to pull it off. Leave the Crows to me and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the update on the sudden change in events."

"Goodbye Komui."

Bak hung up the phone with a sigh, allowing his hand to linger on the device as he disconnected one of the hovering golems. He kept his back to Allen, who had been analyzing his every move, and allowed some form of relief to wash over him. He had been stressed out lately and this was on the top of his list, well, up there with when he had been unintentionally told that Lenalee and Allen were a couple. Hopefully Komui would be able to find a way to get them back to headquarters. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle having an emotionally disturbed Allen here for the rest of his days. The thought was too much to bare. He knew it was selfish of him to think like that and it hadn't been Allen's fault in all but still. It'd probably be better for him to be back in the place that had been considered his home.

Turning back so that he was now facing Allen, both were staring at the other, Allen with his glaring and Bak with his uncomfortable gaze. Building up some much neady confidence, Bak reluctantly walked forward and stood looming over Allen. The anger began mixing in with the now present fear of something that seemed bigger than you in his eyes, his growling already having been present once Bak began walking towards him. A wave of willingness to understand washed over Bak as he continued to look down at Allen. He wanted to help or at least understand what this young man went through. Getting down to Allen's level, Allen shrank against the door, his arms spread out to prevent entry. His body was shaking, his face drawed back into a snarl.

"Allen...do you understand what I'm saying?"

Allen took a second to digest what Bak was asking him before slowly nodding his head, the trembling gone but only to be replaced with a tense body. The snarl and growling slackened as well as he took into account what bak wanted to talk to him about.

"What happened when you and Lenalee were gone?"

"We...we went...out for a walk..."

"Yes a walk but what happened?"

"Ambush..."

"There was an ambush? An ambush from some akuma or the Noah?"

"Akuma...lots of akuma...Lenalee...Lenalee wanted me to run....said I shouldn't fight...I did what she wanted me to do. I ran when I should've stayed and fought."

"Then what happened?"

"They...chased after me...some of them having fought Lenalee...There was a level 4 with him...I couldn't fight it...Lenalee destroyed it but the others...swarmed her and...they hurt her even more. They made me angry and I finished the rest off on my own...They deserved what they got for hurting my love..."

"Is that all that happened?"

"Yes!!"

The flicker of anger that had exploded across his features caused Bak to shrink back slightly from the sudden outburst, Allen having leaned in closer threateningly while he moved back a little. Allen stayed like that for a minute before slinking back to his previous position, except this time, he buried his head against his knees as he brought his legs to his chest.

"When...when can I see her? I miss her...I want to see that she's ok..."

"I'll let the doctors allow you to go see her but I'll only do that if you let one of the nurses change your bandages and to make sure that you aren't as hurt as you seem to be. Will you do that?"

"...no...I wish to see her now..."

Allen lifted his head up slightly, not making eye contact with Bak as he groggily got to his feet, his legs shaking violently from the sudden application of weight. He was very surprised that he didn't fall down even once even though his legs looked like they would buckle any second. He was breathing heavily by now, one hand clutching his side as he winced in pain. Keeping the other hand pressed against the door, he slowly began turning himself so that he stood face to face with the door. Panting now, he tried turning the door knob but found it was locked. Knitting his eyebrows forward in frustration, he allowed himself to lean against the door by his shoulder as he allowed his now free hand to hover in front of the door. It stood like that for a few seconds as a clenched fist before he struck the door full force, trying to break his way in.

Bak was taken aback at first but once the situation began to sink in, he was quickly back up on his feet, attempting to remove Allen from the door. This only infuriated Allen as he turned from the door and tackled Bak to the ground. The animal fierceness was present once more as he pinned Bak by his shoulders, his face draw back in a snarl as he gave him a threatening growl, some drool rolling down pass his lips. He looked up at the growling exorcist that was keeping him pinned to the ground in fear as he saw nothing but anger present in his now surprisingly darker grey eyes. As Allen drew back a hand to strike Bak in the face, Fou came crashing in, affectively knocking him off of Bak.

"What's gotten into him? You didn't do anything to Lenalee by any chance?"

"No it's not that!...Look it's hard to explain right now."

"Enlighten me."

Bak looked at her nervously before his attention was brought back to Allen as he activated his innocence and was preparing to what looked like slice his head off his neck. Jumping out of the way and behind Fou, she quickly transformed her arms into blades as they rose up to block Crown Clown. Now moving out of the safety of hiding behind Fou, he watched from a distance as both began clashing against each other, Fou holding back while Allen continued to press forward without taking note of his wounds.

Crown Belt was keeping him off the ground, saving him the pain of having to move around on burnt legs. Both were equally nimble, having no trouble dodging the other's moves. Fou looked into his eyes as both were trying to over power the other, taking note of the unpresent glimmer that was always present in his silver eyes. All that was there was an angered fuelled drive to see Lenalee. Seeing this was both frightening and pathetic at the same time. The frightening part was thinking about what lengths Allen would be willing to go just to be at Lenalee's side. And the pathetic part was that this anger had been brought on by the simply fact of not being able to see Lenalee when he wanted to.

Breaking free from the temporary stalemate, Fou began to rapidly slice at Allen who was barely fast enough to back out of the way. Bak continued to watch from a safe distance, trying to figure out what Fou was doing. Then it hit him. She was trying to drive him back away from the door long enough to tire him out. Seeing the idea appearing to be working, he moved closer to the door so that he may be able to check in on her current statis without the fear of Allen coming in after him. But Allen had saw him move for the door, which caused him to go in a frenzy as he struggled to get past Fou. But she continued to drive him back, causing them to become a good half mile from the door.

Bak hung back for a moment just to see what was happening before he slowly unlocked the door and entering. Once inside, he hasitly locked the door behind him before looking upon a slumbering Lenalee. She laid there with bandages wrapped around her chest and covering parts of her face and arms. The most noticable thing would have to be the cast that covered her right leg. All seem to be fine until suddenly, Lenalee shot open her eyes, jerking up into a sitting position. Her hand was pressed over her heart, her nails digging into the partially showing bandages that were wrapped tightly around her chest. Her eyes were wide from confusion and pain as her body began trembling.

This so sudden change had left Bak stunned as he tried to analyze the situation so that he may be of some help. But as he stood there completely frozen at the spot, his hives revealed themselves once again as Lenalee's shirt fell off from simply being draped across her shoulders, the only thing keeping her from being topless being the bandages wrapped around her frame. Seconds later, she had her eyes tight shut as tears streamed down her face, mingling the accumulating sweat that was coming onto her face. Whatever was happening must have been too much to handle because she was now screaming in pain as she clutched the bandages even tighter.

He quickly had to shake away the growing blush and embarrassment as he grabbed her by her shoulders, trying to get her to look at him. But all she would do was cry and scream, the multitude of it steadily getting harder and louder. Looking at her for a moment, he ran to the door and unlocked it, walking into another shocking scene. Allen was at his knees, his right hand clutching his shirt as it pressed over his heart. His eyes were closed tight shut, tears streaming down his face as he screamed as well. Fou was standing by him as she looked at Bak in hopes for an answer. Employees were watching the scene with the same amount of confusion, some of the doctors running into Lenalee's room upon realizing that she was screaming as well.

Now falling to his hands and knees, Allen continued to clutch his heart before coughing up a small amount of blood that mixed with some vomit. He was shaking like crazy as he slowly looked up at the now open door that led to Lenalee. And now outside was Lenalee herself as she too was on her hands and knees. Astonished doctors stood dumbfounded, no one knowing what to do. By now the screaming had gone as both exorcists continued to stare at the other, tears silently falling down their face as they contined to clutch their hearts. Lenalee collapsed back to the ground, curling up as best she could into a ball as she clutched her heart before losing consciousness, causing her to become limp. Allen began to slowly drag himself over to her, losing the energy to continue when he was just halfway to her.

Moving his hand away from his heart, he shakingly outstretched it to her, as if he could somehow pull her to him. Staring out at her, he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness as well, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he his body fell to the ground. Now both exorcists laid there unconscious, everyone holding their breath as they stared at them with confusion and fear. Some of the doctors and nurses seemed to snap out of it as they rushed forward to the two exorcists, lifting them up from the ground and carrying them into the room Lenalee had been in to have tests run on them to see what had happened. And that was on everyone's thoughts. What had just happened that caused both exorcist to simualtaniously fall into the same conditions?

_Author's Note: Somehow, this chapter had been really difficult to write. I hope you think it's at least good so please review. I want to hear your opinions._


	8. The Heart

Ch. 8: The Heart

Lenalee had been laying in one of the medical beds for what felt like forever, her mind vaguely aware of the conversation that was being held just outside her door. Allowing her senses to drift, her tired body began falling back into a deep slumber. But before her senses were completely washed away, she heard someone enter her room. She knew someone was there but took no initiative to acknowledge the presence.

The medicine they had pumped into her blood helped alleviate most of the pain, creating a sort of numb feeling through the waist down. She wanted to sleep some more but a sudden jolt of pain caused her to shoot straight up. For some reason, the pain was intensifying with each passing second, targeting both her heart and her legs. The pain grew to be so intense that all she could do was cry and scream.

Her uniform shirt that had been unbuttoned and draped across her shoulders fell to the bed, all but forgotten at the moment. Her heart felt as if it was on fire, the urge to rip it out of her chest growing. But all she could do was claw at the bandages, the only thing keeping her from being exposed from the waist up. Whoever had been at the door must have been the one shaking her by the shoulders, trying in vain to get her attention. It might have worked if she weren't in so much pain.

The person released her and was gone, as if he or she were never even there. Whither they were there or not was hard to tell anymore for she couldn't hear anything. Her hearing had been filled by a low droning sound, making this all even more tormenting. She could hear nothing else, that is, besides the cries of agony coming from Allen. Allen. She had to get to Allen.

Clutching the bandages further, she slowly crawled her way to one side of the bed. Making it to one side, she was trying to figure out a way to get off the bed but that problem was solved when her hand slipped across the blankets, causing her to fall to the ground in a bundle of bandages and blankets. Landing harshly to the ground, the sudden urge to vomit washed over her as she continued to clutch the bandages around her chest.

She couldn't control herself anymore as she allowed the urge to consume, vomiting up all over the covers that laid spread out in front of her, some of it being blood. Keeping the back of her hand over her mouth, nausea was making the room spin, making her want to throw up even more. Along with the slowly escalating pain, she fell to her side in hopes of alleviating the nausea, perspiration running down her face. Temptation to remain there occurred to her but upon hearing another outbreak of Allen's cries, she forced herself to continue.

Shakingly getting up onto her hands and knees, she almost fell back down from another wave of pain. Stifling her cries, she began crawling for the door frame, mostly dragging her legs behind her. Everything appeared blurry, everything continuing to spin around her. Making her way to the door frame, she finally found Allen also on his hands and knees. He was clutching his shirt over his heart, heaving up both blood and vomit. Looking up at her slowly, the eye contact between them seemed to help for the pain soon was diminishing but still remained nonetheless.

But the pain was becoming too much for her to handle. As the room began to black out, she allowed herself to collapse back down to the ground once more, the remaining pain consuming her. The last thing she saw was Allen beginning to make his way to her.

*&*

_Lenalee laid sprawled across the stone brick pavement, just vaguely aware of the fact that she was in some sort of dream world. Slowly opening her eyes, she struggled to get to her feet, her arms trembling from the sudden action. After several failed attempts, she finally successfully managed to get to her feet, realizing that her legs were undamaged, like the rest of her body. Blurrily looking around, her eyes quickly focused in on her surroundings._

_A stoned brick path laid paved out in front of her, most of it cracked or chipped from age. Barren trees lined the path, their branches looking frail and broken without the healthy green leaves that usually accompanied the plant. Overhead, a crescent moon sat in the sky, the only thing unusual being the fact that it shined black instead of white._

_Oddly, this didn't come to much of a surprise or a shock to her. Seeing things like this hadn't been anything new. She was use to it by now. Boldly taking a step forward, she began walking forward in hopes of finding out the reason she had been brought here. Not getting very far, she soon found Allen sprawled across the stone bricks in the very same fashion she had been earlier._

_Running up to him, she skidded down to his side. Now to her knees, she began to frantically shake him out it desperation, trying to get him to wake up. Her attempts weren't working out so well as he continued to lay there unconscious. Realizing her attempts were all fruitless, she gave up with a sigh of defeat before sitting back straight as she waited patiently for him to stir._

_After sitting there for a few minutes, her attention already starting to drift, she finally noticed Allen shakily begin to rise. Hastily giving him some support, she helped him into a standing position, all his wounds gone as well. She stepped back for a moment to allow him to inspect the situation they were in before he turned to her with puzzlement in his eyes. All she could do was shrug as a sign of she didn't know anything else either._

_Finding that there was no point just standing there, they began moving forward in hopes finding the answer as to why they were there. The whole area was eerily quiet, the only noise coming from there foot falls. Both walked in silence, deep within their own thoughts to notice that they were now walking on severely cracked stone. Upon hearing the sudden sharp sound of something cracking, both looked at the other before slowly looking down with sudden realization of what was occurring._

_Taking no time to squander on there situation, both exorcists immediately began running forward, foolishly running across the more fragile stone. Lenalee was slightly in the lead, Allen struggling to keep up with her while the whole stone bricks seemed to be collapsing mere inches behind him. Looking over her shoulder, she quickly grabbed hold of his left hand and began pulling him along behind her. She was trying desperately to activate her innocence, hoping it could be used to help them escape. But nothing was working, nor was Allen's innocence working in turn. _

_Runes of some unknown statues laid crumble everywhere, making it increasingly harder to run without fear of running into some of the remains. As Lenalee was still pondering on the fact that her innocence wasn't activating, Allen looked forward in fear as they were running right towards an empty space that would cause them to fall into the unknown. Mustering up some more speed, he got behind Lenalee before propelling himself forward, wrapping his arms around her waist in the process. _

_Flying forward, gravity caused them to slide across the cracked stone. Taking a second's moment to collect themselves, a huge crack ran across between them, causing them to jump to opposite sides of the crack. As the land began to slowly diverge, both of them shot forward in an attempt to out run the growing chasm in order to return being at the other's side. The side Lenalee was on seemed to be in her favor as there were few sink holes and a slightly sturdier ground that didn't take so much grief out of her. Allen's was a different story._

_He constantly had to jump over what looked like never ending black holes, stumbling slightly in the process when the ground underneath him would suddenly give way spontaneously without warning. In some cases, he had to use his acrobatic skills to help him out get out of some situations such as having to use a single hand handstand on the closes piece of stone while a pit encircled it. Back flipping with ease, he would land nimbly on his feet before going back into the run._

_Between the two, Allen was the most tired, having to use more energy to do some tricks to help him out rather than just simple running. Lenalee looked behind her with worry as he began to slowly lag behind out of exhaustion, feeling so helpless seeing as how there was nothing she could do to help. Miss judging a step, Allen helplessly flailed in the air as he struggled to find some balance. Gravity beating him, he was sent hopelessly plunging down into the unending void of darkness. _

_Noticing him flail earlier, Lenalee went ran back towards him, taking the chance and jumping the 8ft chasm that kept them apart. Just barely grabbing hold of the edge, she quickly pulled herself up as the ledge began to sink from her added weight. Running towards Allen as what appeared to be him slowly falling back into the pit, she dove after him, unquestionable._

"_Allen!"_

"_Lenalee!"_

_Now as both of them fell into the unknown, Lenalee had somehow managed to make it to him, both of them clutching onto the other as they waited for their inevitable fate. For a while, all they could see was darkness, until a flash of light blinded them from seeing what happened next._

_Then suddenly, they found themselves on some sort of platform, both still clutching the other tightly as their minds slowly grasped the concept that they weren't falling anymore. Looking around, their gaze fell upon a stone statue in the distance. It was built in the likeliness of a heart more or less, a crack running across it, breaking into unproportionate pieces of two. Then, a voice coming from nowhere but yet everywhere echoed around the area._

"_Exorcists…those chosen by the hand of god…the war rages on…only one thing able to turn the tides and end this forsaken war…it lays dormant…broken into two…resting within the ones who…have cheated death…Laying separate, it appears like that of normal innocence…put together, it creates unyielding power…there it will lay…until the true accommodator reveals them self…one who is a part of the two…"_

"_Wait, what do you mean?!"_

"_Only then will this war will truly end…Time will be vanquished once and for all…rest now apostles…your journey is not at it's end…"_

"_Hey! You didn't answer me earlier! What do you mean by one who is a part of the two?!"_

_He was never given an answer as the platform too broke underneath them, causing them once again to fall within the darkness. Everything seemed to simply just drift away as the darkness consumed them._

_Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, school has been keeping me busy. I probably won't update again this weekend seeing as how its my birthday tomorrow (10/31/09). Yes! I'll be 15…even though it's not as greet as being 16. Oh well, who cares, please review. I want to hear your thoughts. _


	9. Surprise Guest

Ch. 9: Surprise Guest

Allen shot open his eyes, surprising everyone by quickly sitting upright. Cold sweat covered his face, his heart beating at an accelerated pace. Turning his head to the left, he was now staring at Lenalee, practically mirroring his own expressions. She sat in another bed, one that was placed right next to his. Noticing that she wasn't wearing any shirt, only bandages wrapped around her chest, he looked away embarrassingly as a blush came across his face, switching his gaze to look down somewhere else. It was then that he noticed that they were holding hands, something he didn't remember doing.

By now, all of the doctors had rushed out of the room, presumably running to tell Bak that they were awake. Moments later, a knock sounded off the door before opening in as the guest allowed them self in. His assumption had been correct. It was Bak. Only he wasn't alone.

"Whoa Lenalee, I think you need to put a shirt on. Jeez, you naughty, naughty kids. I didn't think you guys would start getting that series for at least, let's say, a couple years."

"Lavi!"

Both exorcists were blushing madly, practically rivaling their tormentor's red hair. Lenalee quickly wrapped the covers around her, her face still beating a deep red. Under different circumstances, if she weren't in a situation like this one, would have been extremely happy to see Lavi again.

"We…we didn't…do anything!"

Allen was the one to answer, sounding very unconvincing even though he was actually telling the truth with his face also still red and his voice flustered from embarrassment. This was exactly the reactions he would want to get out of them if the golden opportunity came about. He was practically rolling on the floor, suffering from a laughing fit until Bookman revealed his presence by kicking Lavi upside the head. That affectively shut him up.

"How long have we been out?"

"For just about four days now."

With Lavi laying on the ground seeing stars, Bai came scampering in, his still puny bark echoing around the room. Apparently, he had completely forgotten the fact that Allen had treated him like that of an animal instead of companion for he attempted to jump on the bed on his own. Seeing he wanted up, Allen gladly lifted him and placed him on his lap, affectionately stroking the semi long white fur.

"I'm sorry Bai, I didn't mean to treat you like that."

Bookman watched the scene in silence, staying to the side as he observed the situation, his mind cataloging any information that may prove to be important. Lavi had surprisingly recovered from his star struck gaze and now was resting his head across his crossed arms that laid at the foot of Allen's bed, having got down to his knees in a more comfortable position. Bai quickly ran off of Allen's lap and headfirst into Lavi, giving him the kisses of his life. The puppy's tongue was everywhere on his face, licking his cheeks, his nose, his chin, his ears, and his eyes whenever he closed the only visible one. Curious about the object that blocked the other eye, he began tugging on it, trying desperately to remove it so that he could lick that area as well.

When the elastic fabric snapped from the consistent tugging, Lavi immediately covered his eye with his hand, getting back to his feet and away from Bai's reach. Everyone had froze at the spot, with the exception of Bookman. In everyone's years of knowing Lavi, the exorcist had seized to be seen without his eye patch until now. Turning his back to everyone, he dug through his pocket, pulled it out, placed it around his head, and turned around.

"See, good as new."

Everyone seemed to sweat drop when the object had been in fact, another eye patch that was the same as the last. All were curious to wonder just why Lavi kept a spare with him and how many more did he have within his pockets. Bak shakingly shook his head in disapproval, seeing that they would get off task if they continued to skip around the subject.

"Allen, Lenalee, do you know what happened?"

Now Bookman was on full alert, his mind ready to catch anything worth catching. Allen stiffened before looking back to Lenalee, who was looking at him as well. Both of them were silently debating on whether or not they should tell the truth or not. Seeing that they wouldn't gain anything by hiding it but neither telling it as well. So it was silently agreed to tell a part of the truth.

"We have the heart."

They had both simultaneously spoken at the same time, no intention of doing something like that when giving their answer. Everyone else in the room seemed to stiffen as they took in what they just said. It all made sense to Bak now. They both had had their lives saved by their innocence, something that never happened in history. It also explained what had happened just a couple days ago when both of them seemed to be in pain at their hearts. But he was still curious about one thing.

"Did the pain you two experience seem to lessen or dwindle away the closer the two of you got to each other?"

Nodding their heads confirmed Bak that his initial thought had been correct. They all talked for what seemed like hours, stopping by mid afternoon when they all heard the carnivorous growl of Allen's stomach. He was famished and was in desperate need of food. Having some of the cooks bring him some freshly cooked food, a quadruple amount of food that was on the menus, Allen greedily ate away at his food. Stopping every now and again, he offered Lenalee some of the food to her who, accepted some of it at first until watching him eat at it like it was nothing made her lose her appetite. Only Lavi remained in the room, watching wearily as Allen continued to devour a normal feast in one helping, snatching something to munch on every now and again.

He was finished with the meal in no time, possible beating the time it took to clean just one plate that had been served a regular sized meal. Sighing in contentment, he leaned back on the bed, allowing Bai to lick his fingers as he dangled it down the side. Lavi looked at them with boredom clearly on his face, finding that he had nothing better to do. If only Kanda were there. He could braid his hair to pass the time better.

"Hey Lavi?"

Snapping out of his continuous boredom, he looked to Lenalee with his attention on like a light bulb, waiting for her to continue what she was going to say.

"There should be a present in my room that has a red ribbon tied around a black box. Could you go get it for me?"

"Sure thing."

Finally having something to do, he was out in a flash, eager to know what was in the gift and who it was for. Allen looked at the spot their friend had just been before looking at her quizzically. All he got for an answer was a smile, wanting him to wait to see what the gift was. Lavi was back as quickly as he had left, huffing slightly as his eagerness caused him to run to her room faster. He motioned to give the gift to Lenalee when she stopped him.

"That's for you. You can open it if you like."

Once she had said those words, he was ripping the ribbon off like a child, hastily swinging the lid of the box to the side. Looking down at the box, he froze, his gaze falling on something Allen couldn't see.

"What is it?"

He was ignored as Lavi continued to stare down at his gift. With mouth slightly a gaped, he looked up at Lenalee with utter disbelief. She gave him a smile to show that his expression was thanks enough. Allen was slowly getting annoyed, still curious as to what was in the box that left Lavi speechless.

"What is it?!"

This seemed to snap him out of it as he pulled out the black cotton jacket, loosely dropping the box that held to the ground. Looking the jacket over, he stopped at the red symbol that had been stitched onto the back.

"What does this say?"

"Oh…that says 'friendship' on it."

Her quick answer didn't seem to bother Lavi as he continued to look at the jacket before putting on himself. It fit comfortably, satisfied with the fact that the sleeves were slightly longer than they needed to be. Walking over to Lenalee's bed side, he got down to her level and gave her a gentle hug that lasted for a few seconds.

"I can't believe you actually got me a new jacket. I was only messing with you when I told you that you owed me a new jacket."

"Oh don't worry, it was no trouble at all. I was actually kind of fun finding the right jacket for you."

"What happened to your old one then?"

"It's currently in some dump after having been thrown away because of your blood staining it some bad that there was nothing any one could do to salvage it."

"Oh."

Allen looked away shamefully, depression beginning to wash over him as he slightly remembered the events that transpired moments earlier. Lenalee looked at him worryingly, afraid he might sink back into his emotional scarred self, trapped by his partial insanity. Lavi must have been told by Bak about this because he was quick to be cheery and saying that he was planning to get rid of that old thing any way. Although totally unconvincing, Allen allowed him to continue making excuses, some of them actually making him feel a little better.

All three of them shared their experiences upon the time they all last scene each other up to now. Happily laughing at some of the stories he was telling about upsetting Kanda, no one was aware of the fact that Bookman stood quietly behind the door. He stood there like a stone, his presence being undetected, as if he was a ghost, silently recording the conversation in his head. There was a lot that still needed to be surfaced. And he was going to be there to hear it.

_Author's Note: I felt kind of bad that I might not be updating this story over the weekend, so I decided to just update again today on my birthday to make it up to you all. Think of it as a sort of my present to you for all the people who enjoy this story and want to know what happens next. Please be patient and I'll have the next chapter on a Monday or Tuesday. Please review_


	10. Fallen

Ch. 10: Fallen

A couple of weeks had past until Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, and Bookman had been given the heads up that now was a good time for them to return. A word of caution was given to Lavi and Bookman; Malcolm was currently staying at the Black Order and was adamant about Allen not returning. Nonetheless, Komui appropriately defied orders in order for them to come. The other two had not been told of this, all of them wanting to at least get them back home without having any issues or problems.

As they boarded the one way and one stop train that would take them straight to headquarters within a week, Bookman hung back for a moment as he scanned the area with sharp eyes. Shrugging off the feeling of unease, he too boarded the train after waiting patiently for Lavi to help both Allen and Lenalee on. Allen was still wheelchair bound and Lenalee was forced to use crutches in order to help her move about without any trouble.

By now, the injuries Allen had sustained several weeks ago were finally fully healing, finding no need to continue having bandages wrapped around his chest. He still kept the ones wrapped around his legs though, the skin beginning to shed away all the dead skin that still lingered on the raw surface. Once safely on the train, Allen wheeled himself to the nearest empty compartment, holding open the door in order to allow an easy passage into the compartment for Lenalee.

Once everyone was aboard and inside, they all sat in silence as they waited for their destination to come.

*&*

The first couple of days had passed without incident, nothing relatively happening. They were only a day away from reaching the Black Order when they were attacked.

The train was going at a steady speed, the scenery coming in colored blurs as it passed it by. Bai had his tow front paws pressed up against the glass of one the windows outside their compartment, his tail wagging in excitement. He was standing on Allen's lap, his bushy white tail whacking him in the face every now and then. He had grown a few inches in the past weeks, his size slightly increasing with it.

Rubbing his hand through the long fur that seemed to act like a miniature mane for the white dog around its neck, he too looked out at the scenery. He was ready to go home, ready to see everyone he knew once again. Staying at the Asian Branch was nice and all but it wasn't home. Seeing familiar scenes of nature gave him comfort and a reassurance that he was actually going home.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he had failed to notice the blur that seemed to shoot across the window. But Bai had, and now he was barking like a maniac at the now normal scene. Cracking one eye opened, he chuckled at his, what seemed like easily provoked, puppy on his lap.

"It's nothing Bai, it was merely a tree or a bird you saw…"

His sentence was cut short when the train gave a violent jerk. Sending him rolling to the other end of the hall, Bai was smart enough when it came to not wanting to crash into the other wall along with his master by jumping off his lap before he collided with the wall. With his continuous barking and the sudden jerk of the train, Lavi poked his head out of the compartment, wanting to see if Allen was ok.

Stifling a laugh behind a hand, he tried to control himself when he looked down upon Allen. His wheelchair had been upturned, now laying on its side, one wheel still spinning along with Allen's head as he began seeing stars. He appeared to be stuck between doing a tumble and simply just lying there, tangled up in his own limbs. Being the bigger man, a case that someone like Lavi was finding difficult to do, he helped him back up onto his feet, fixing the wheelchair in the process.

While helping him back in his chair, Bai came running back at full speed, tail in between his legs and his ears pulled back. When he sat down, he leaped back onto his lap, cringing down in fear as he borrowed his head into his abdomen shaking with fear. Looking down at him with puzzlement, the train shook once more. Grasping the handles to the mobile chair, Lavi braced himself so that he wouldn't be pushed back with the wheelchair.

This time, Bookman himself exited the compartment, standing near the entrance in order to make sure Lenalee didn't over work herself by coming out as well. A silent discussion was being passed between him and Lavi, Lavi being the only one showing that they were actually conversing with body movements. Suddenly, an explosion sounded off a little ways away from where they were, drawing all of their attentions to the area. Smoke covered the other end of the hall, obscuring all of their views from seeing whoever or whatever had caused it. Staying tense and at the ready, they braced themselves for whatever it was to come.

As the smoke began dying down, a single form stood through the haze. Lifting its head up slowly, it kept its eyes stayed closed before revealing the purple irises that laid hidden behind closed lids. Giving them a playfully grin, the akuma shot forward with the full intent of eliminating them all.

Bringing out his hammer and enlarging it, he stood at the ready with Bookman doing the same with his needles. Both now stood in front of Allen protectively, Bookman already having made sure that the door that lead to their compartment stayed firmly shut and barricaded with a chair to prevent Lenalee from joining them. As the akuma drew in closer, the two bookmen clan members shot forward as well, weapons at the ready.

Activating his innocence as well, he used the technique of having the Crown Belt keeping him hovering over the ground and stood back, just in case the akuma were to break through their defenses and came charging at him instead. Swerving out of the way of oncoming pieces of broken off furniture, Allen was mainly a spectator to the fight, waiting to see if his help would be needed.

When both opposing sides had collided, the level four akuma immediately dodged the attacks that had been directed at it and used an uppercut to send Bookman flying upwards. The harshness of the blow had caused him to cough up some blood, sending him rocketing up the sky and through the ceiling. With a new wave of anger, Lavi became swinging his hammer faster in hopes of landing a hit on its agile form. The akuma seemed to be enjoying itself as it easily evaded the blows before kneeing him in the stomach, sending him skyward as well.

While the akuma was distracted, Allen came charging in, wrapping his arms around the midsection of the creature before propelling himself upward, taking the fight to the top of the train. Leaning backwards, he landed on his back, waiting for the right moment before tumbling backwards so that the akuma was now on its back. Restraining him for a moment, he quickly let go as Lavi came crashing down with his hammer enlarged further. Slamming it down hard against its chest, Lavi grinned in satisfaction as he noticed the iron hard hide begin to crack under the pressure. But that wasn't going to stop it.

Grabbing hold of the hammer's head, its hands burning from the touch of the innocence powered weapon, he tossed Lavi aside as if he were nothing but a bug. Bookman sent out a wave of needle, all of them piercing the iron shell but not slowing him down. Shaking them off loosely, it sent a crashing punch at his chest, sending the old man flying back. As the akuma charged after its foe, Allen attempted to stop it by diving for its feet, wrapping his arms around nothing but air as the akuma zoomed past him.

Gripping the worn out Bookman by his head, the akuma began squeezing his grip tighter, cracks forming on the old man's fragile skull. Before the akuma had just enough time to finish Bookman off, Lenalee along with Allen came shooting to the rescue, distracting the akuma long enough to switch to attacking them instead. Bookman fell in a crumpled heap, struggling to hold on between life and death as Lavi came rushing in to his safety.

"Old man!"

Falling to his knees, he sat by the more experienced Bookman's side, hoping against hope that what he thought was happening wasn't really happening. Bookman laid there on his back, struggling for breath against the painful stabs that throbbed throughout his chest. He was old and tired, all he wanted now was for his old and broken bones to get some rest. He wasn't needed anymore. Lavi was ready. Gripping the scruff of Lavi's shirt, he pulled him down further to his level, wanting him to hear what he had to say before it was too late.

"Lavi…you have to stay with…with the heart…until the very end…until it comes together as one…with its true accommodator. The…fate of this war…depends on it…..I don't want to die……knowing that you failed as a Bookman in this part….I think you're going to…….."

"Going to be? Going to be what?!"

"Going to be a….bookman I can be proud of….someday…."

With his dying breath, he sunk back down to the ground, finally giving into death once he had been sure Lavi knew what his path must be before he left him to continue on following an unknown path. Seeing him taking one last breath before slowly closing his eyes had brought a boat load of tears to his eyes. Allen and Lenalee had somehow in some way, defeated the level four akuma just moments before Bookman's death. They hadn't caught what he had said but seeing Lavi's grief was painful in itself.

His body was trembling, the death of his mentor sinking into him slowly. With his bangs overcastting his eyes, he continued to let the tears slide down his cheeks and fall onto Bookman's face. He fell forward, his hands balling up into fists as they slammed down against the metal surface of the train, denting it slightly. Now on his hands and knees, he was shaking even more as anger mixed in with sorrow. Directing it to no one in particular, he yelled out his protest.

"GRANDPA!!!!!"

His howl seemed to echo everywhere in the sky, the younger exorcists looking away in added sorrow. Lenalee was crying as well, the death of a comrade coming to her like a harsh blow. Allen was simply looking away, not knowing what to feel about something like this happening. But none the least, tears still slid down his cheeks, just not in the same multitude as the others. All remained silent as their sorrow filled the atmosphere, speckles of water beginning to fall around them. Even the heavens were beginning to weep.

_Author's Note: School. Evil sister. That's all I need to explain myself. I'll try to update again this weekend and hopefully it will be longer and better. Please review._


	11. Burial

Ch.11: Burial 

It had fallen night when they had reached the Black Order. Lavi was carrying the lifeless body of Bookman, avoiding any of the gazes that landed on him as they walked through the halls to Komui's office. Allen and Lenalee gave him some space as they trailed after him, respecting the unending silence.

Making it to the door, the three of them stared at the wooden obstacle that stood in front of them. No one motioned to open it, all simply staring at it in anticipation as they waited for someone brave enough to do so. Luckily, none of them had to as Reever came out with an annoyed look on his face. That changed when he saw Bookman in Lavi's arms.

His expression turning grim, he signaled Lavi to fallen him before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Nodding his head in understanding, the two of them continued on down the other end of the hall, the shadows consuming their forms the further away they walked away from them. Allen and Lenalee watched their receding forms before looking at the slightly agape door.

Looking at the other for reassurance, they both took in a big breath before nervously letting themselves enter. Walking into the room flooded with papers dating back to who knew when, brought back some comfort for the both of them. It was just a small piece of their home they had come back to. Seeing Komui's smiling face brought on a warm feeling of security in them as well, glad to finally be back. That is, until their gazes fell on the person that had escalated their grief further. Malcolm C. Reveiler.

Both of them froze at the unexpected turn of events. Fear and trauma washed into the young exorcists eyes, both hoping that what they were seeing was nothing but their imagination. Grinning at the fear he could see in their eyes, he stood up and walked over to them slowly, watching them as they drew in all of his movements. Instinctively, both of them had clasped their hands into the others, their touch giving them some much needed strength. His grin becoming a sleigh smirk, he stood before them, revealing in the fear he brought them.

"How are you two on this fine day?"

Neither of them gave him an answer, both unable to look away from his penetrating and nerve racking gaze. As he drew even closer, they began trembling, afraid about what his next move would be. Staring at Lenalee, he stared down at her with cold eyes, trying to make her crumble without even touching her, simply using his gaze. But she was resilient, mustering enough strength within her, she did the unexpected. She began whacking him with one of the crutches, displaying her bottled up anger towards the man.

"How dare you?!! How dare you act like nothing has damned happened?!?! How can you ask us that? Bookman is dead and you think the day is fine! And how could you torture Allen like that, leaving him branded?!?! You don't deserve to have all that control you have over me now!"

Allen and Komui just watched her in amazement, neither one of them willing to step in to save the man from what he deserved. If it weren't for the fact that Bookman had just died shook her, she wouldn't be attacking him with crutches. As he got whacked again in the face, he rubbed his sore cheek before bringing back his hand and striking her across the cheek. Both spectators froze once more as the transaction began to sink in.

Falling to the ground, Lenalee covered her red cheek with a hand as tears began to stream down her face freely now, looking away in shame for having lost her temper. Komui was about to jump in and verbally attack Malcolm for slapping his sister like that, he came to the rescue too late as Allen pounced himself at Malcolm, sending the both of them to the floor. Both of them were now wrestling, struggling to get back up or to keep the other back down.

Komui had gotten down to his sister's level, enveloping her within his embrace as he shielded her from the others. He watched the other two scuffle it out, a new found pride blooming in him. He was very proud that Allen was willing to jump to his sister's defense whenever need be, willing to stick by her side. That won him a few points, for now at least. The fight was then broken up when Komui realized that this needed to end now. Keeping them away from the other, he stood in between them, making sure no one tried anything funny.

"Calm down! Both of you! Now, I think for now that we should put this inside and think about other things. I heard Bookman had been killed, we will begin the funeral precession immediately. Until then, we shall hold off the conference that had been planned upon their return and have it down another day. Do I make myself clear?"

Both angrily nodded, Komui shooting Malcolm a glare when he was about to protest. Wobbling back to his wheelchair, Allen sank down in it before wheeling himself over to Lenalee, helping her back to her feet. Giving her brother a smile showing her appreciation, both of them thankfully left the office. Malcolm gave a heavy sigh when he realized he would just have to wait for the right time to make himself known. Like a spider deceiving it's prey with it's web of deception.

*&*

A single black coffin laid out across the checkered tile floor, members of the Black Order surrounding it in order to show their peace. Lavi stood over it, his eyes down cast as he avoided all the gazes that were trying to give him comfort. Komui walked up to him, his beret removed from his head in a sign of respect.

"Lavi, were going to need to cremate him now."

"No."

"We have to, that's the only way we can give him a burial that he would appreciate and approve of."

"I can assure you that I will not bring back gramps into an akuma. As a Bookman, I fell I should have my mentor buried instead of cremated. Please, that's all I ask of you."

Komui pondered on his words before silently nodding his approval. Lavi was the only one close enough to Bookman, so there was no fear of anyone else bringing him back as an akuma. Plus, Komui could believe Lavi's words and judgment, knowing that he was smart enough to know his own emotions. Bookmen were detached from the world, no harm would come from it if they were to bury him.

*&*

It was snowing outside, covering the ground in a fresh blanket of snow. Barren trees surrounded the desolate area, furthering the somber atmosphere. A few collected people were standing around the precision, all of them wearing black as a sign of their sorrow for their follow comrade. Allen and Lenalee were side by side, bowing their heads in a sigh of respect.

Reever and Komui stood opposite of them, watching as the coffin was slowly brought down into the earth. Miranda was sobbing, Krory handing her a tissue every now and then as he tried to comfort the grieving woman. Kanda stood a little ways away, not paying much attention at what was going on seeing as how he had been dragged there by Krory in order to support their friend through his pain.

Lavi stood in utter silence as the wind tousled his hair, leaving white flakes that contrasted his vibrant red hair that usually matched his equally as vibrant personally. But today he wasn't the cheerful rabbit. Today he was an official Bookman from what his mentor had told him. When given this honor, he thought he would feel differently about it. Maybe happier, but all he was feeling was unworthiness. There were still a lot of things left he still had to learn.

As the coffin began to slowly sink further into the earth, the congregation began to disperse. Kanda was the first to leave, followed by Krory leading Miranda. Komui and Reever stayed a little longer until the coffin had actually made it to the ground before leaving as a founder began burying it. It was now Lavi, Allen, and Lenalee, all of them watching the steady movements of the finder as he continued his work.

Compacting the earth with the shovel, the finder bowed to them before walking away to give them some peace. Lenalee bent down a placed the bouquet of pink roses in front of the cross shaped grave stone, taking a moment to whisper her last words. Staring at the stone for a moment, she stood back up before walking away, Allen following behind her after making sure he said his final words.

All that remained now was Lavi, his body still stiff as his hair and scarf danced around from the wind. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell him everything but for some reason, it wouldn't come out in words. His Bookman self was fighting against the character he had become, the fictional character that was Lavi. Gazing at the stone with unemotional eyes that hid the inner turmoil that acted like a raging stone, he stood there for a little longer before walking away. He was not ready to settle his peace yet.


	12. You must go

Ch. 12: You must go

Allen and Lenalee were walking down the halls in silence, just wanting to walk around to clear their minds as they watched Bai sniff at every little thing. He had been doing this ever since they arrived, his nose pervading every space he could reach. They were going to head to the cafeteria, making it their last stop for the night before they would go to their rooms. How they planned that one out, they had no idea.

Reaching the cafeteria, they entered to find it mainly deserted, with the exception of Lavi. He was sitting at a table that was a little ways away, the dim lights creating shadows on his face. He took a sip of the mug that sat before him, the heat of the liquid coming out as swirls of steam to show it was hot. Tea perhaps? His face was blank, his eyes staring out into nothing. To some, it may have appeared to be him in deep thought, but they knew him better, even if he didn't know it himself.

Making their way towards him, they hovered in front of him, afraid that he would rather be left alone. Closing his only visible eye, he gave them a curt nod to show that they were welcome to sit if they wanted to. Lenalee sat across from him, Allen maneuvering his wheelchair so that he could pull himself onto the seat next to Lavi. The only cheerful one in this whole atmosphere was Bai, who continued scampering around the cafeteria, his paws clicking against the smooth surface of the floor.

The three exorcists all sat in silence, the two younger ones not knowing how to begin this. Seeing Lavi in so much pain had caused him to lose his appetite, now preferring to comfort his friend rather than gorge himself in food. Lavi was the first to speak, his voice coming out in a whisper that sounded automatic.

"Allen…what was it like to lose Mana…"

The white haired exorcist froze, unwilling to replay the events that laid in his memories or to speak them out loud. But he had to suck it up and answer Lavi. Even if it meant going through another mental break down. Lenalee began to frown when he began answering his question.

"It was terrible…one of the most terrible things to have happened in my life. He…he was the one who raised me…taught me everything I know. When he left me, it was like he-"

His voice broke, cold sweat beginning to accumulate on his face. Taking in a shaky breath of air, he attempted to continue but found it impossible. His head was spinning; sorrow at the thoughts of the events that played out all those years ago filled him. Then suddenly, it all came to a stop when a comforting hand was placed on his shoulder, driving away the on coming break down.

Turning his head to side, he was greeted by the stern yet gentle look of Lavi. He wasn't smiling but he wasn't frowning either. The only way he could tell what he was felling were his eyes, the only thing that couldn't deceive him. Once making sure Allen had calmed down enough, Lavi began to speak once more.

"I'm sorry Allen. I should have known better than to ask you that while you're like this. I…just wanted to know how someone else felt when someone close to them died."

"What do you fell Lavi?"

With Lenalee's question, both exorcists fell silent as they waited patiently for Lavi to either answer it or to choose to not answer with an understanding excuse. Thinking about the question for a moment, Lavi began to answer the question with uncertainty.

"That's the thing…I don't feel…anything. My mind and heart is blank. I don't know if this is just how I feel or if this is just how I coop. I don't even think this is normal."

"Everyone deals with lost in different ways. You probably decide to keep yourself emotionless. That way, it wouldn't bring you feelings or thoughts that may bring you back to his death. You just don't want to think about it."

"You may be right…but…I don't know what to think anymore. It feels like the longer I stay here, the more it feels like I'm drowning. It's like his death is keeping me tied here, just begging me to squander on it. But I can't. His death and what's left with from it, is starting to suffocate me. I need to get away but I don't think I can."

All three of them were in silence once more, pondering on Lavi's last statement. Then, a though occurred to Allen, one that he didn't think to highly of but one he thought was necessary for their troubled friend.

"Go."

"What?"

"Go. You need to get away from the Order for awhile."

"I can't just leave, my duty is to-"

"Forget about your duty for awhile. You are obviously confused about what you need and want to do next. Right now, you need to go rediscover yourself. Staying here isn't going to help you in any way."

"But…"

"Leaving is the only way you're going to get the answers you desperately seek about yourself. Just promise me you'll write every once and a while."

Tears were falling from Allen's face as he kept his head bowed, attempting to hide the pain this decision was causing him. Lenalee was also crying, understanding Allen's point and agreeing with it as well. Lavi was looking between them, back and forth, shock in his eye. This had been the first real emotion he had displayed in awhile. Seeing that they were being serious and weren't joking, his look became a tender one, one showing his appreciation.

"Well if you want me gone that desperately, then I guess I will."

Both of them looked back to him, seeing the grin that was on his face. This caused them to smile as well, the tears beginning to die away. Getting up from his seated position, the other two followed suit, both of them taking a little longer than he did. They stood there for a moment before a voice off the intercom sounded off in the cafeteria, bouncing off the walls.

"Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee, please report to the conference room immediately. You are needed for discussion with the generals, the directors, the chief, and members reporting from the Vatican. That is all."

All of them had been looking up at the intercom that was placed near the entrance of the large room. Their faces all turned grim as they pondered on what this was going to be about. Clamping a hand on their shoulders, Lavi gave them an encouraging smile that seemed to lift their spirits a little.

"Looks like you've got a crowd waiting for you. Don't let me keep them waiting."

Lavi motioned to leave when Lenalee clutched his arm, restraining him from continuing forward.

"When will we see you again?"

"I don't know…maybe not for awhile. But I promise you…I shall not return until I've figured out what I must do next. Don't worry, I'll try to return as soon as I can. I wouldn't to leave you two love birds alone for too long."

His grinning face while answering had caused them both to blush before playfully whacking him in the head. Laughing at their reaction, all of them left the cafeteria before going their separate ways. Allen and Lenalee went for the conference room and Lavi went for his room, Bai choosing to follow him instead.

*&*

Lavi stood in his room, still as messy as ever. He took one moment to take in the surroundings of them, not knowing if he'd ever see it again. Maybe not like this but hopefully it would still be his room when he returned. Bai was sitting next to him, his tail wagging as he looked up at Lavi while he looked down at him.

He had written a letter to show that he was off. He'd rather have gone with his friends bidding him fair well but they were currently in a meeting. And who knew how long that would last. Placing the piece of paper in an envelope, he bent down to Bai's level as he playfully rubbed the white fur.

Tightening his grip around the envelope, he slowly began to slide behind the puppy's collar, just out of reach of his teeth. Hopefully when they saw the puppy next, they would notice the letter he had left for them. Standing back up, he hastily wiped away the tear that managed to drip from his eye.

Taking a deep breath, he shouldered the pack he had packed early and began walking his way to the entrance of the Order, about to begin his journey of self discovery. This taking him fifteen minutes to actually make it outside, he took in another deep breath, one that was being used to keep him going, and continued his way out in the world, not daring to take a look back. The further away he went, the more the darkness that was already settling in consumed him until he could no longer be seen from the Order.

*&*

Allen and Lenalee stood in front of the door that led into the conference room. They looked nervously at each other before Allen slowly opened the door and both of them hesitantly entered. Both were nervous about what was going to happen and what was going to be discussed. But they had a pretty good idea. They were going to probably begin discussing the events that had transpired all those months ago and most of all, they were going to talk about the Heart.

_Author's Note: Alright…so Lavi's stepping out of the story for a while. Sorry if this disappoints you all but I just started a story that covers what's going on with him. If you like Lavi then check his story out. It's called I Grieve. But don't worry, he will return to this story and if this one drags on to where I have to break it into another one, then he'll defiantly return in that one. Please review._


	13. Fighting a losing war

Ch. 13: Fighting a losing war

Everyone in the conference room was staring at them, their eyes following their every movement as they went to take the two remaining seats left at the table. And one of them was just so happened to be right next Roulvier himself. Not wanting Lenalee to have to feel any guilt or shame or even fear for what she did to the man earlier, Allen quickly made his way over to him in order to claim his seat next to the man that was from hell in his book. He kept himself straight and proud and it would've looked impressive too if it weren't for the fact that he was still bound to a wheelchair.

Positioning the wheeled chair behind his attended seat, Allen slowly stood up from his seat and made his way unshakingly to what he was know considering his throne, that way it wouldn't deter him from fleeing the area because of the man that had given him hell since the day they meet was sitting next to it. Pulling out the chair, he motioned to sit in it but stopped when he realized that Lenalee was still standing their, frozen in fear. He followed her gaze, anger flaring up when noticed that Roulvier had her locked in his icy glare.

Fluidly moving out of just about to sit down, he walked back to her and nudged her to take the last seat that was luckily by Reever. Guiding her to it, he steady her as he moved the crutches away before pulling out her seat for her, like a gentleman he was. Pushing the chair back in, he looked to Reever in hopes that he might be able to distract Lenalee for awhile until she forgot the feeling of Roulvier's stare upon her shoulders. Catching his gaze, the Head of the Science Department nodded his head curtly before he begun attempting to grab her attention.

Feeling satisfied once again, he went back to his seat, only this time, he was doing it in style. Head held high in a sign of arrogance and carelessness, chest slightly puffed out, he continued his noble stride as if he was proud of sitting where he was. With none of his movements appearing forced or stiff, he sat down once more upon his simply throne before covering his mouth with laced fingers, his eyes revealing nothing. Though no one knew it, he let out an inward sigh of relief, proud that he managed to pull that off with out any incident. If he had or were to make eye contact with Roulvier then and now, he would have crumbled under pressure.

Everyone in the room besides Roulvier and Link were amazed at how confident the young man had been at sitting next to the one person that know one had otherwise been willing to sit next to in the first place. Sure, Link would've sat next to him if he weren't standing behind him but only because he had to. Allen could have left the seat to Lenalee but he had showed that he would gladly take it all for her by taking the seat with pride. If that wasn't a sign love, to willingly take the place of the other in order to make them happy, then no one knew what love was anymore.

Now that everyone was here and accounted for, the discussion was begun. Sifting through a stack of papers, Komui nervously began searching for the report he had planned to read out. As he began panicking when he discovered it wasn't with the others, Reever handed him the one that he was looking for, having been laid away from the others and closer to him. Giving a sigh of relief, he wiped away the accumulating sweat on his forehead brought on by his nerves and began reading it aloud.

"A couple of months ago, Allen Walker had been brought into an interrogation located here in one of the halls usually left alone. There, he was questioned from what the members of Crow who came for the questioning have reported. Even though I had been granted access to the room, I was not present for the interrogation. But, when I did happen to wonder within the room while the interrogation had been over for hours, I was stunned to find Allen Walker near death as he laid across the stoned floor.

"That isn't how we do our interrogations around here Malcolm. We do not beat up the accused if he doesn't give you an answer you do not like. That violated with the code of the Order."

Taking a pause to let everyone digest the information, Komui pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up as Malcolm began to speak.

"While doing an interrogation, is it not acceptable to deliver some form of punishment when the accused does not give you the truth?"

"Yes but judging the severity of the wounds and the duration of the amount of time the interrogator was in the room, a fool could tell that most of the wounds were brought on from foul play."

"So are you admitting that you are a fool, someone that doesn't deserve the privilege of being Chief of the Order?"

The quick questions that twisted what he was saying were starting to tick Komui off. How dare someone question his capability when he did nothing but strive to become better, even if no one saw it the way he did at times. Gritting his teeth as he tried to think of a witty comeback, Reever was quick to jump into the lions pit and try to make sure that Komui didn't start anything he would regret later. Nervously attempting to calm the Chief down, Komui pushed his glasses that dangled at the tip of his nose back to the bridge of his nose before sucking in the anger he was feeling just enough to continue the report. And hopefully, he wouldn't be riddled with trivial questions from Roulvier.

"A day later, it was decided that the questioning would be continued at the Vatican. It appeared that you had affectively had Walker restrained enough to be able to transfer him over to the building without incident. But I guess he proved you wrong, didn't he."

"Don't you dare switch this onto me Chief Komui. It was because of the Noah genes that rested inside him that enabled him to escape."

That was a lie, Allen knew the truth that no one could ever truly know besides himself. People might believe him and go along with it, but there would still be others that would questioned the truth in his statement. Deciding to stay calm, not wanting to feel the heat that Roulvier and Komui were feeling against each other, he quietly dissuaded the faulty answer.

"How is it that you appear to know everything about me? You judge me based off your own knowledge of your average person, which ultimately failed you in my case. You see, I like to think that everyone here in the Order are people who defy the normality of things and of the nature of people. Sure, in some ways, we do act as normal people but not all the time. We are capable of emotions that everyone is capable of feeling but we are also able to defy what some people are willing to accept as fate.

"On that day I escaped, I did not, in any means, use the power of the Noah inside of me. I am not the person that can be easily corrupted with unrelenting power. I simply used my own logic and strength to get me out of the sticky situation. I chose to run, not out of cowardice or fear for myself, but to ensure the safety to those I hold dear. You may chose to not believe what I am saying but I can assure you, what I am saying is indeed the truth."

Again, everyone was blown away at the level headedness this young man was using. Normally, the said exorcist would be out yelling in order to defend his case, possible using violence to settle things. But here, he seemed wiser beyond his years, giving them a seemingly satisfying answer, most of the choosing to believe in. Beside Allen, who had his eyes closed as he gave them the contradicting answer, Roulvier was fuming with anger. He had been angry as the teen began to speak but once he had finished, he was filled with rage. It was not so much the answer, it not initially being all that surprising that an answer like that should contradict his, but the manner he had said it. Logically, the young man showed have retorted back in anger. Instead, he had replied as if it were a simple fact. That was making him pissed.

Lenalee couldn't help but continue to stare at how calm he appeared to be, the way he had delivered his answer, the facts, had been amazing. She didn't know how he could do it like it was nothing, knowing that he harbored just as much fear towards the man beside him. He cracked open his left eye and gave her a wink and a small smile before returning back to stoic manner. Smiling, she started to relax, glad that Allen was cool and collected while in this setting, ruthless when it came to attacking verbally just like he was physically on the battlefield.

Smirking at the cleverness of the answer, Komui looked at Allen before motioning for him to tell them all what had happened. Hesitant at first, he dove right into the events that no one beside him knew. Avoiding most of the strife that went on with in internally, even made a valiant effort to tell what the Noah did, having kept some of the memories within him. He avoided one thing though at the end, he didn't mention what the Noah had did to Lenalee, rather wanting her to tell them later when he wasn't listening. Just thinking about it was making him sweat, his hands becoming clammy.

Once he was finished, he looked to Lenalee, silently begging her to tell them what happened if she felt it was necessary. Looked to him with pain in her eyes, remembering clearly what had happened. She also felt it was vital to mention that part, seeing as how the wounds managed to heal all on their own rapidly, but knew all to well that it could drive Allen into a psychotic episode, ruining his already deemed calm composure. So instead, she decided to write it down on a stray piece of paper, making sure to note that they try to restrain their shock so that Allen could at least pretend to stay oblivious to the matter.

Starting with Komui, it made its way around, stopping at the last person at the table, Roulvier. He smirked at the opportunity that seemed to fall in his lap to hopeful entice out a better emotion then just the calm that was still sketched across Allen's face.

"Why is it that this piece of information be left out of the conversation? If I were telling this story, I would've made sure to include this part of Miss Lee getting impaled by the sword of exorcism by the Noah in control of Walker's body. And to top it all off, when it appeared that she was as good as dead while she laid helplessly in her own pool of blood, she managed to survive, the wound somehow healing rapidly. But that couldn't just have ended there now could it. Would you care to enlighten us with what happened next Walker, I myself would like to hear the end of this story."

The hold time Roulvier had been speaking, he kept a sly grin on his face, increasing further the more he saw the trauma wash into his eyes. He had won this battle, but would he when the war. It looked like he was winning at the moment. Victory was his if Walker displayed more emotion when he answered. Lenalee saw that this was her chance to come to the defense of Allen but when she tried to answer for him, Roulvier gave her one of his trade marked icy glares that silenced her immediately.

"I believed I asked Walker to finish the story not you. But I do have a question for you to answer if you'd like. How is it that you could fall in love with someone that was pent on killing you? What drew you to someone like him, someone how could snap your next in any given moment like a twig? And one final question. Why is it you were still willing to give away your life to someone that you had no idea was even still alive?"

Two birds with one stone. Lenalee was shell shocked from the on slot of questions that made her question for a second, her undying love for the young man. Seeing his victory with this battle, he turned his head back to Allen, waiting expectantly for his answer.

"We're waiting Walker."

Looking eyes with him, he could feel the builded strength that he had within slowly begin to drain away. His hands were trembling as they still laid in front of his mouth, fingers still intertwined. His heart was beating a mile a minute, it felt like everyone could hear his rapid heart beat through his chest. Taking in a shaky breath, he began to answer Roulvier's question with as much strength as he could muster. And that wasn't much.

"…I…I took control somehow…and made Lavi, Krory, and Kanda stab me with my own innocence…it expelled the Noah within me somehow….and I was…I was free. But I was hurt…very badly…I can still remember…all the blood…and all the pain….it was so cold……I died after that…but I came back…..somehow and woke up awhile later…..that's…..that's all……."

Allen was clutching his head as unwanted memories came flooding in his head. His face was scrunched up in pain, trying in vain to dismiss the oncoming break down that laid just around the corner. He just snapped when Roulvier spoke again, fully aware that he was winning the war.

"So you were dead. How was it like to find yourself in the world of the living when you awoke again? Difficult? Simple? Did you believe you were alive or did you think you were stuck with some illusion created by the 14th? How do you that this isn't an illusion in itself? Do you ever wonder if any of this is even actually real or not?"

Screaming out in defiance, he fell out of his chair as he tried to run away from the object of his torment. When he saw that the Hitlerish man get up out of his chair, appearing to be bigger than he really was from where Allen laid fearfully on the floor. He had lost and Roulvier was taking in every ounce of pride in it. Looking down at the once composed young man that had been broken down to that of a whimpering child, he moved forward just to get the kicks of seeing the white haired exorcist cringe back in fear.

Lenalee shot out of her chair and instinctively cradled Allen in her arms, crooning a soft calming tone in his ear. He in turn had clung to her for protection, knowing that she would protect him from the evil man. Roulvier then came up with another idea to test something while still exhibiting pain in it. Signaling a reluctant Link to come forward, who was finding his superiors actions a tad bit inappropriate. Now beside him, he followed his instructions of getting behind Lenalee. Following his every orders with reluctance, he grabbed her arms and pulled them back so that she wasn't holding onto Allen anymore.

She looked back up at him with fury as he began pulling her away from him. Immediately when she had let go of him, he shot forward to grab her, to pull her back to him. But Roulvier had grabbed him by the arms and was beginning to pull him further away from her. He began thrashing around, trying to get the evil man to let go of him but found it impossible. Now, all he could do was cry like a scared little child being separated from a parent. Everyone by now had jumped out of their seats, yelling out their protest at how inconsiderate Roulvier was being. All he did was look at them angrily before voicing out his initial thought that pushed him to do this.

"I've been told that they contain the Heart, one half within them. I've also been told that affects of the Heart being put into two pieces can be seen the further away they are apart. I want to see if that is true."

His answer had silenced most of the people, but it had not affected Komui or Reever in any way. In fact, it fueled their anger even more as Komui ran to yank Lenalee out of Link's grasp, Reever doing the same for Allen. Both kept an iron hold around their arms, continuing to pull them as far away as they could. Just when Roulvier thought it wasn't going to work as he went to go out the door, his work began paying off.

Allen was convulsing once more, his screams increasing in multitude the further away Lenalee was being dragged to, his right hand clutching the shirt just over his heart. And as expected, Lenalee was also screaming out in agony, her hand clutching the material of her clothes over her heart. Hearing her screams was too much as Komui resulted to using violence in order to free his sister from her torment. Punching Link squarely in the face that effectively caused him to relinquished his hold around her arms.

As soon as he had let go of her, she began to scramble towards the still trapped Allen. Noticing that the Chief had reluctantly punched another person, Reever pondered over the idea of doing the same to Roulvier but the idea was too scary to even attempt. Then, out of thin air, Kanda came into the scene, Mugen pointing threateningly at Roulvier. That stopped even Roulvier's attempts to further pull Allen away. By the looks of Kanda, he wasn't a very good mood to begin with. He probably didn't even care he was helping Allen out by stopping Roulvier. But seeing as how he was the closes to the door that was the cause to mayhem, he was the target for his frustration.

"You will let the stinking, inconsiderate, unworthy, scrawny, screaming Beansprout go right now or you'll have to see me REALLY angry. Because of you, I can't get any decent sleep, what with Beansprout screaming his head off. SO IF YOU DON'T DROP HIM NOW, YOU'RE IN A WORLD OF HELL BECAUSE YOU HAVEN"T SEEN ME TRULY ANGRY!!!!"

Roulvier wasn't stupid enough to defy, something Kanda wanted by the looks of his eyes, and dropped Allen to the ground. Sheathing Mugen, he stalked away once the annoying crying had seized and he wasn't needed anymore. As Roulvier turned his head back forward from watching Kanda retreat, he was confronted with all the glares given to him by the others. This didn't effect him the very least, for he just grinned at them his malicious smile before he began to exited the conference room.

"I would like to see Walker and Miss Lee again after they have recovered. I want to see their battle capabilities when they fight together. I might put into consideration of moving Walker to general status but only if he proves worthy enough and I don't see a residual part of the Noah in him. I hope everyone has a good night. Fare well."

And just like that, he and Link were gone. Komui glared angrily at the door before looking down at Allen and Lenalee. Both were now clinging to each other, both of them slightly pale in the face. With tears still streaming down his face, Lenalee continued with a shaky voice to soothe Allen down by humming in his ear, rocking him back and forth in an attempt to bringing him to sleep. All Komui could do was frown at the scene, disheartened that one of their best exorcist could be broken down just like that if you played your cards right.

Getting down to their level, he engulfed them in a warm hug, not caring for the fact that he would probably have never hugged Allen under different circumstances. As soon as his arms wrapped around Lenalee's frame, the strength that she had kept as a display for Allen shattered as she began shaking and crying as well. This only caused Komui to hug them tighter, praying that all of their sobbing would possible ware them out and cause them to fall asleep.

The only one remaining now in the room was Reever, who looked just about disheartened as Komui felt. He kept a distance, standing by the door just incase Roulvier had the nerve to try them while they had been knocked down. The room was unnaturally silent, the only noise filling the larger space being the sobbing of the two exorcists. One of these days, Roulvier was going to get what was coming to him.

_Author's Note: This was actually fun to write. It all flowed out of my head as I was typing this, most of it flowing rather nicely. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review._


	14. Komui

Ch. 14: Komui

Dawn began to creep over the horizon, slowly illuminating the sky with the bright rays of the sun. It had been a rough night for most of the members at the Black Order. Ever since the abrupt end of the conference, things have been sort of hectic. Exhaustion had driven the two exorcists to sleep, both of them still in the embrace from early. Gingerly removing Lenalee from Allen's grasp, Komui pondered over the question of how this was going to work.

He had moved both exorcists to his office, Reever helping by carrying Allen while he carried his precious Lenalee. But that was when they ran into a dilemma. Komui's office harbored only one couch, and they had two exorcists out cold. And it was definitely out of the question of having them sleep on the same couch. Together. With their bodies touching. Alone.

Komui shuddered just thinking about it. He would've been gladly to leave the white haired exorcist back in the conference room but fear of disturbing his dear Lenalee's sleep by bringing on the unnecessary pain. So he had to bring Allen along for the sake of his sister. Pondering over the matter some more, it came down to just having Allen sleep on the floor. He was sure he wouldn't mind that if Lenalee got the better end of the deal.

Moving a pillow on the couch to accommodate Lenalee's head, he positioned her at the left end of the couch, the furthest away possible he could get her from Allen. He had his back pressed against the right side of the couch, his head just barely missing the overhanging armrest as it drooped forward. Both were pretty out of it if their constant moving hadn't stirred them once. Grabbing some blankets that Reever had fetched before going back to his usually all nighters of working in the Science Department, he draped one over Lenalee's body, tucking her in hopes that it would keep her warm. Then, using the second blanket, he tried his best to make sure that the blanket would at least stay draped over the boy's shoulders.

Giving a tired sigh, he noticed from the glowing sky that dawn was approaching and he was dog tired. A little sleep wouldn't hurt him. Besides, they wouldn't dare do anything if they knew he was in the room if they were to wake up. Moving to his heavily cluttered desk, he sank down into his chair and used piles of unsigned documents as a pillow as he too began to doze of into dream land. Surprisingly, the little light that came into the room from the window was causing a glare to shoot across his glasses, making it seem like he was staring at them when in all actuality, he was asleep. No one would have been the wiser if they were to walk in without paying too close attention.

*&*

It was mid-afternoon when Allen began to stir. Opening his eyes reluctantly, they slowly took in the surroundings blurrily as they too began to focus. At first, he didn't know where he was, but sadly, his eyes focused in on something that startled him. Turning his head to the left, his right hand rubbing away the sleep in his eyes, he strained his eyes at the mysterious thing that sat behind a desk. As they began to focus in, he jolted back in surprise, ramming his head up against the armchair that his head had been skimming the whole time.

Komui was still asleep, but Allen didn't know that. From his point of view, it appeared as if Komui was staring at him, the glare on his glasses rendering him from seeing his eyes. Nonetheless, it had startled him to have the first thing to see when he woke up being Komui supposedly staring at him. Calming himself down when no given reaction came from Komui, Allen slowly crawled forward, hesitant about his actions.

With gaze unmoving from Komui, Allen slowly got to his feet and stood in front of the Chief's desk. Staring at Komui, he outstretched one hand slowly and began waving it in front of his face. Noticing that he wasn't reacting, he quickly concluded that he was asleep, the glare on his glasses only making it appear he was awake. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned with his back now facing the Chief and allowed his gaze to fall onto Lenalee, still fast asleep.

Walking back over to the couch, he sat cross legged in front of her sleeping form, brushing aside some stray hair that was falling in her face. He took a moment to just study her features, taking in the beauty befitting, no, surpassing that of an angel. His angel. What had he done to deserve any one like her? What ever it was, he wasn't complaining. Taking her that dangled on the edge of the sofa, he held it between his larger ones, noting at how delicate her fingers felt against his gloved hands.

Sneaking a peak over his shoulder to make sure Komui was still out of it, Allen brought her hand up to his lips, caressing the skin slightly as he kept it there, simply staring at her with love filled eyes. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep. Something she so desperately deserved.

He stayed like that for a good half hour until her eyes began to flutter open. Both gave the other a small smile, Allen kissing her hand as he helped her sit up right. Giving her enough space to stretch, he waited patiently until she stood up beside him. She looked to her brother, amazingly still asleep, before draping the blanket that she had been covered with over his shoulders. Removing his glasses, she set them aside to insure that they wouldn't be knocked off or smashed by either him or some of the paper.

Now that he was properly settled, she walked back to him, both walking out of Komui's office hand in hand, Lenalee having to lean on him slightly seeing as how she was missing her crutches but no one was complaining about that. If legs had been strong enough, still slightly sore and unsure about even sustaining his own weight, would've carried Lenalee if he had to. He would do anything for her.

*&*

"Komui…Komui…wake up Chief…"

Reever gave a tired sigh, seeing that there was only one way to wake up Komui. One that he wasn't practically fond of. Especially with the current scenario.

"Hey Chief, Lenalee is getting married to Allen and he's taking her away from you."

That was his jolt of electricity, well, more like lightning bolt. He was automatically on his feet, somehow pulling out his ridiculously large drill out of thin air. Sometimes, the Chief amazed even himself.

" How dare he do this! What if he deflowered my precious Lenalee?!?! Where is he? I just want to fix one tiny little thing for a moment. Don't worry, it will cause him a whole bunch of pain."

"Calm down sir, they're not getting married and I'm almost positive that they haven't done anything yet."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Both of them are too shy to start something that intimate with one another. Besides, Allen is too much of a gentleman to start it right now."

"If that is so than would you care to explain to me why they are not here."

"I don't know maybe they woke up and left. Maybe they went to get some food at the cafeteria or something. Now what I was going to say was-"

"Do you know where they even are?"

"Well no but-"

"THEN THEY COULD BE ANYWHERE IN THE ORDER DOING GOD KNOWS WHAT!!!(happy thoughts, must think of happy thoughts to destroy the evil ones) DON'T WORRY MY SWEET PRECIOUS AND INNOCENT LENALEE!!! YOUR LOVING BIG BROTHER SHALL SAVE YOU FROM THAT WHITE HAIRED DEMON!!!!"

And just like that, Komui was out like a flash, screaming like a banshee with his enormous drill in hand. Reever simply looked at him, giving a wary sigh before following him, having decided it was up to him to make sure Komui stayed in check and didn't at least destroy the whole Order with his crazy sister complex. What a fun day this would turn out to be.

*&*

Komui and Reever had checked just about every room in the Order. Reever was exhausted, ready to collapse any minute but Komui was still full of energy, unwilling to end the search until he knew his sister was safe. In more ways than one. And there was still a whole area left to search. The Ark.

"Come now Reever, our search has not ended yet."

This man was crazy! How was it that he wasn't tired after having checked at least 200 rooms, all of them failures? Giving a heavy sigh, he began sprinting after the Chief when he noticed that he was already heading towards the Ark without having waited for his reply. This whole trip had better be worth it if he was being parade around the whole Order in this very manner.

Komui had one room in mind to check first. Probably the only room they would likely be in in the entire Ark. The piano room. Expertly maneuvering their way to said room, they reached the room in a matter of minutes, Reever trailing behind him.

"Komui, quit your doting and let's go. There's more important work to be done than having you chase after your poor sister like an annoying dog."

He was cut off with Komui shushing him, one ear pressed against the door. Beckoning Reever closer, both of them had one ear pressed against the door, straining to ear what was going on in other room. They could just barely make out fractions of sentence as they eaves dropped on the conversation. But sadly, they had bad timing and wrong ideas.

"Like this?"

"Yeah, it's easier if you stay like that."

"What if I mess up?"

"Don't worry, it's not that hard once you get the hang of it. And if you do mess up then we can always try again."

"I'll trust your judgment Allen."

Both of the two eaves droppers paled dramatically, Komui to stun to even move at first and Reever was second guessing himself. Were they actually doing what he thought they were doing? Listening some more had driven Komui to the edge as he knocked down the door unhesitatingly and unafraid of what he might find on the other side.

"Prepare to die Allen Walker!"

Just as he came rushing in with drill spiraling in hand, Komui rushed towards Allen, who just sat there in shock. Reever reluctantly took a peek inside only to find that they hadn't been doing what he thought they were doing. Both of them were sitting next to each other on the piano bench, Lenalee's hands positioned over the keys as she had been waiting for Allen to instruct her on how to play a piano. But Komui was blinded by too much of his sister complex to see that what they were doing was innocent enough. Ramming into Allen, he knocked him away from Lenalee and began drilling away at his innocence covered arm.

"You shall not touch my dear sister again! I don't care if you two have the Heart, it isn't going to deter me from having to kill you!"

This had happened so fast that it took Lenalee to fully understand what was going on when Komui brought down his drill on Allen's arm. Reever was struggling to pull Komui off of the poor boy, howling out at the unexpected and unwanted pain.

"Komui get off of him and let him go. He was only teaching Lenalee how to play the piano. They weren't doing what we thought they were doing!"

"Nii-san, what's going on? Allen was just showing me how to play the piano. What did you think we were doing?"

"Well…you see, Reever here thought you to were doing, how should I say this, grown up things."

"Don't try to blame this on me Chief!!! I wasn't the one who barged in like you did!!!"

"Yes but it was only out of love for my Lenalee and I had to make sure that she hadn't lost her purity to this monster."

"..M..monster?…"

Their attention was brought back to the boy laying sprawled on the floor, his head spinning from the amount of pain he had just went through. Mental note, don't ever do IT while he was around, if they ever got that far. Not that he was planning on doing THAT anytime soon. But if Lenalee wanted to do that then he would gladly carry out her wish without protest. Seeing no threat here, Komui got off of Allen, ignoring the fact that he was still sprawled across the floor, his head continuing to spin as he begun seeing stars.

Reever apologetically helped the dazed Allen back up onto his feet, trying to apologize on Komui's behalf. Komui still stood on guard, every once in a while turning on the drill in a threatening manner just to scare Allen. Lenalee had just about enough of this. Stepping in front of her brother, she gave him a cheerful smile, causing him to become oblivious to the fact that all that smile was a technique used to hide her anger.

"I think it's time for you to leave nii-san."

"But Lenalee, I better stay here so I can protect you-"

"I said it's time for you to leave!"

And just like that, she had Komui flying out of the room and practically off the whole elevated floor with a powerful kick with her activated innocence.

"Now Reever, was that really the reason why he came?"

"Do you have to ask?"

"Then why are you here?"

"I came to remind Komui that Roulvier still wishes to see you two in battle and also to show him this note I found around that puppy of yours collar. I guess it was meant for you guys to read if it was put around his neck. Here it is."

After having dug through his pockets he pulled out a crumbled up envelope. Handing it to Allen, he inspected it over, finding it addressed to no one in particular. Opening it, Lenalee got closer to him so that she two could read the contents of the letter.

_Dear Allen and Lenalee,_

_ By the time you read this, I probably will have already been miles away from Order. Sorry I didn't let you guys see me off but you two have become somewhat celebrities around here that I felt that waiting to see you two once more would take to long. I'm sorry it had to be done this way but it was what I felt like I should've done. I don't know where I'll be going or when I'll return but hopefully I'll return with what I had been searching for. My purpose._

_ Make sure you give Kanda hell for me Allen, a huge chunk to compensate for my absence. Lenalee, stay strong and please don't worry about me while I'm gone. I'll come back safe and sound, you'll see. Tell everyone at HQ that I'm going to gone for awhile so if they could and or want to, to clean out my room but make sure it stays mine. I don't want to come back one day to see some snot nose exorcist has taken my room. Hope you will all do fine while I'm gone and to always stay cheerful._

_ Sincerely,_

_Lavi_

_P.S: Stay safe you two, I wouldn't want to find little Allen Jr.'s running around when I got back._

Leave it to Lavi to say something inappropriate in something this serious as this letter. Smiling nonetheless, Allen folded the letter neatly back into the envelope and into his pocket. Telling Reever what the contents of it were, Reever nodded his head in a mental note to save Lavi's room for him when he returned.

"Reever, could you tell Malcolm that we will see him just after we have the nurse see if it's ok to take the caste around Lenalee's leg off."

"Sure thing."

"And make sure you tell him that whatever he has in store for us shall not be a challenge."

_Author's Note: Sorry, I just had to add something like this into the story. Please Review, I want to know what you think about this chapter._


	15. Battle between Beasts

Ch. 15: Battle between Beasts

Allen and Lenalee had just left the sick bay, Lenalee able to walk straight without having a caste in the way to hinder her movement. Now they were heading off to the training grounds, the one place they were sure to find Roulvier at, waiting for them. The journey didn't take them long, both of them able to fully walk without the grievances of their previous injuries. Allen still had the burns but they weren't causing him as much pain as they had once did when he first woke up from his coma.

Now on the lowest level that was reserved as the training grounds, cracks scatter across the floors and walls here and there, they walked up to the staring Roulvier that stood what looked like the center of the whole arena. His features were shady, causing both exorcists to proceed with much needed caution. There was no telling what this Hitlerish man had in store for them.

"I'm glad to see that you two have gotten over that little scene back during the meeting, especially you Walker. I didn't think you'd be able to snap out of that nasty break down you had earlier. By the looks of you, I can tell that you can't be easily be broken. But every man has his limits. Let us begin, shall we?"

Roulvier took no liberty to see their answers, knowing that they had to accept either way and there was no use protesting against it. Walking to one side, away from the center where the two combatants stood in silence, Roulvier stood veiled in the hidden shadows that surrounded out of range of the single light that hovered over the center of the grounds. Now consumed by the shadows, both exorcists stood on their guard, unaware at what could happen.

Once Roulvier had moved over to the shadows, the remaining lights that surrounded the outer pillars that were once in darkness brightened up the outer edge, revealing what they would be fighting to show their skill. But they expect what stood in front of them. Restraints wrapped around what looked like a person's arms, securing him to the wall opposite of them. As soon as the lights had flickered on, the man began to struggle out of the restraints that kept him bound to that one spot.

The sight was nauseating. The man was garbed in nothing but torn up pants, most of in tattered strips with dirt and something else dying the once grey substance a muggy brown. His face was dirtied as well, smudges of dirt and what looked like drying blood staining the unnaturally pale skin. Scars were scattered everywhere, across his chest, his arms, and all over his face. But the most disturbing part had to be his face.

The unfortunate man's face was draw back in a demonic snarl, his canine teeth elongated to an unnatural length that rivaled even Krory's. Drool and blood trickled past his lips, sliding precariously onto his exposed body. His eyes was staring directly at them with so much hatred and self longer to get at them that one could almost feel it in the atmosphere. And one couldn't help stare into his eyes as they were morphed to look empty less, nothing more than pools of boiling crimson.

Allen could only stare in shock at what they had to face in order to prove themselves. Lenalee too was in shock but was staring at it with so much horror that she was cringing behind Allen in fear. Malcolm couldn't help but stare at the fear that radiated off both exorcists. Feeling satisfied, he decided to retreat to an even safer distance by going up a couple of levels within the training grounds. He was then greeted with the presence of Komui and the remaining Generals, Froi Tiedoll being the only one restraining Komui from running out to his sister. Once seeing Roulvier, he jumped right into barking out his protest of having his sister fight the abomination.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? How can you let two exorcists fight a monster like that?"

"Because if they can beat that then they have earned a portion of my respect, as tiny as it may be, and I will allow Walker the right to move up to the rank some would say he is deserving to have. But we'll just have to wait and see now won't we?"

"So you are willing to have the accommodators of the Heart killed so un-honorably in such a difficult fight."

"How little confidence you all harbor for these two exorcists, they who have which been talked highly about. You say you carry faith for your fellow comrades but you aren't showing it by stating that they shall perish. Such is the nature of things when one is a spectator to a battle that looks like a useless struggle. It wouldn't matter if they were to die anyways, we have the Heart now and in doing so, and we have what we need to end this war. The lost of two exorcists would not deter us from our victory."

"You had this all planned out from the beginning didn't you, you bastard!!! How dare you sacrifice my Lenalee to that of your abomination, that poor unfortunate creature you call a Fourth Exorcist."

"Indeed it was. With the Heart in it's current state, it is nothing more than a regular fragment of innocence. But with them out of the way, we shall be able to bring the two pieces together. Now the slaughter shall begin."

By now, Tiedoll had relinquished his hold from around Komui and followed the others in watching the approaching conflict. Komui felt like killing the Hitlerish man at that very moment but his terrible urge to watch, though he'd do it unwillingly, consumed him as he looked down in horror for him practically doomed sister. Crows were stationed near the Generals, ready to use violence if any of them felt like jumping in for the rescue. And so the battle began.

*&*

The man, who was unknowingly a Fourth Exorcist to the two that stood before him, was released from its previous restraints. A Fourth Exorcist was that of a person that was ¾ level 4 akuma but also had been forced into accommodating a fragment of innocence. If invoked, it would cause the being immense pain, only to further fuel the ever present anger it possessed. It could use the innocence but at the cost of destroying itself in the end. The creature that charged unquestionable towards them was one of a kind, the only one that had survived the experiments.

He could never be considered a man anymore. All he was was a mindless animal that was incapable of following orders and attacked anything and everything. What an unfortunate existence. Activating their innocence, Allen and Lenalee jumped out of the range of the oncoming attack. But the creature had latched one hand around Allen's ankle, stopping him in mid air. And using incredible strength, it flung him across the large room, sending crashing into the other wall.

"Allen!"

The creature was now aware of another in the arena. Pinpointing where she would be when she would zoom off to the other exorcist, the creature leaped up into the air and threw itself at Lenalee. Stunned by the sudden move, she was sent falling down from the sudden weight of the monster latching itself on her. Finger nails that had morphed to look like claws dug into her shoulders as she struggled to free herself from the beast.

Drool falling onto her face, she looked up fearfully as the creature moved its clawed hands to snap her neck. Unable to break free from it pinning her to the ground or to kick it off of her, she resorted to screaming, the only thing she could do. Fearing that this was the end, she closed her eyes and prayed that Allen would at least live through this.

Suddenly, the weight was lifted off of her, causing her to slowly open her eyes. Before her was Allen, who had recovered just in time to come to her rescue. Having rammed himself against the creature, both were now brawling with the other, much in the manner of fighting beasts. With hands and feet now clawed and metallic like, fangs perturbing past its lips as it switched into the most possible akuma form it could get into. It was aware of the innocence that it harbored but it also knew that it was something of terrible pain and shouldn't be used by a creature such as itself. Not if it wanted to live long enough to win the fight.

Allen had kept Crown Clown in its clawed state, wanting to stay fair in a fight between beasts. Upon hearing Lenalee's screams off fear, Allen had allowed himself to fall into the primitive state of his, not afraid or ashamed of doing this. He had to protect Lenalee. He could not fail. Failure was not an option if it meant saving her. And save her he shall.

As the inhuman creature began to circle around him like a beast, now on his hands and legs, Allen stood ready for any sudden movement that required him launching at his fellow beast. Lenalee was slowly getting herself back up, her mind having slowly come to the conclusion that she could get up now. Ignoring the throbbing pain emitting from her bleeding shoulders, she watched for a moment as Allen and the creature continued waiting for the other to make the next move. Standing there wasn't going to help them win this struggle. Running in to deliver a powerful kick, the creature perked up at the remembrance of it's other plaything. Swerving out of the way of Allen's attack, the Fourth Exorcist came bounding towards her, lust for the kill in its eyes. When they were about to collide with one another, Allen had managed to catch up to it in time to knock it away from her.

Wrapping his arms around the creature's waist, Allen had turned his body so that his back was facing Lenalee as they flew to the other side. But Lenalee hadn't expected this and had accidentally kicked him in the ribs while he was somersaulting in the air. Stopping herself after that, she watched regretfully as they both came crashing to the ground. Sliding across the cracked stone floor, Allen was clutching his left side as he laid there struggling to get back up again. Sadly, their opponent didn't have such luck.

Getting to its feet as if nothing happened, Lenalee didn't give it much time to react as she assaulted it with kick after kick, venting out her anger of accidentally injuring Allen. Knocking it back a few feet, she stood shocked as the creature continued to get back up on its feet, bones snapping back in the right place as it did so. Giving her a fangy grin, it charged back at her once more, this time going faster.

It was upon her in a moment of seconds, pinning her to the ground once more as it began strangling her. Convulsing from lack of air, her senses began to dim for the lack of oxygen was slowly beginning to shut down her systems. Most of her had accepted that this was the end, Allen wasn't going to come save her this time. But her heart wasn't about to give up, nor was her innocence.

A blinding flash resonated through out the blinding training arena, causing all those who had and were to look upon to cover their eyes from the ever bright light. As it slowly began to erode away, all bystanders were gaping at what they were seeing. Lenalee was back onto her feet, an aura surrounding her as her innocence began changing her appearance. A portion of a metal mask was covering the right side of her face, the designs intricate and complex. A single white streak ran across her hair, contrasting the normally black hair. Her right arm was covered by a white sleeve, a portion of a cape streaming down her backside. Her Dark Boots took on a more clownish look as the tips twisted upward to show the difference from usual.

At first, the creature was dumbfounded with its mouth opened slightly and its eyes confused as they looked upon her dumbly. But that didn't last long as it stupidly charged towards her once more. But no given reaction from her was showed as she simply stood there, as if beckoning the creature to attack. Then, out of nowhere, Allen came crashing in, sending the creature out of its attended route. He was also sporting a new look.

A metallic mask was covering his face, the form not that much different to Tyki Mikk's unleashed Noah form. Half of it was missing though, the left side revealing his face as semi elongated fangs revealed themselves when he bit the creatures arm as they struggled. Black highlights were littered across his hair, most of it bristling up in anger. As he drew his arm back to slash, it could be seen that his arm was somewhat different.

It a more crystalline look to it, the claws seemingly to look like they had been chiseled out of dark violet almost black crystal. The rest could be said about the arm as well, even armorized pieces of crystal covering portions of his right arm in place of the usual white sleeve. Komui and the others were amazed at the new looks the two exorcists were showing off. They looked amazing and powerful but also fearing in all in one.

Lenalee once again joined the fray, only this time, she was much more patient and calculating when it came to attacking with Allen sometimes getting in the way. Landing a solid kick against the creature's metallic arm, the attack easily broke the bone. Then, Allen doubled up the attack by biting down harder on the injured limb, severing it from its socket from the additional pressure. Howling out in pain, it swatted the exorcist away, deciding that it could only win if it used the innocence that rested inside, fully aware that that would kill itself along with them. But it didn't care anymore.

Jumping away from them, it activated its innocence, ethereal wings sprouting out of its back, all of which were crocked and twisted. An unnatural glow surrounded the creature, burning away some flesh that had covered its akuma parts. Lenalee stood unfazed as she prepared herself for the onslaught of attacks. Allen was a little ways away, hunched on the ground, his tongue skimming his lips as lapped in the blood across his mouth. His mouth was twisted into a grin, eager for what was to come.

Getting to his feet, he walked up to Lenalee, standing beside her as they waited for the finale of the show. As the dark and demented aura washed past them, she stretched out her half cape so that the two of them stayed protected against the foul substance. As it slowly dissipated, both teens lunged forward, as did the transformed creature. Another sudden flash had blocked every one's view from watching what happened after that.

And just after a few seconds, it slowly died down, revealing who was the victor in this match. As smoke began to clear, an outline of the two exorcists could be seen through the haze as they looked down at their quickly fading opponent. With the smoke nearly gone, Komui had, by now, run down to the battle arena, trying to reach his sister. But he stopped in his tracks as they turned to face him, simultaneously at the same time, his breath catching in his chest. Instead of her usual bright violet eyes, Lenalee's only showing eye glowed silver through the still hazy arena. The same could be said with Allen's, his only showing eye glowing violet instead of its usual silver.

They stared at the Chief in silence before their newly equipped styled innocence faded out of existence as they reverted back to their usual appearance. But the sudden switch from a stronger power had used too much energy on their parts, both being unused to this conversion. The ending result was both of them collapsing to the ground, becoming unconscious for the time being.

As the Generals excluding Zokalo came rushing down towards the scene, Roulvier remained there with a grimace. His plan had failed and now the two exorcists still stood in his way. This war would not end if the Heart remained separate. The Earl had to be stopped, now and soon. Without the Heart in its proper state, there could be no hope of ending the dreadful conflict anytime soon. And Roulvier was becoming more and more desperate with each passing day, knowing that the Heart laid in their very grasp. Oh how he longed to just grasp it. To grasp victory within his very hands.

_Author's Note: Next chapter should be up sometime around this weekend. Please review_


	16. Words of Warning

Ch. 16: Words of Warning

_It was dark. That's all Allen knew as wondered aimlessly through the darkness. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing there, all he knew was that he had to keep moving. He didn't want to think about what happened if he lingered in one spot for too long. Trying his best to go straight, Allen continued his pointless trek to some unknown destination that one could simply not see._

_ Where was he? Where was Lenalee? What had happened to him? He kept asking himself these questions as he continued moving forward, fear creeping into him with each step forward. And after walking for what felt like hours, loneliness and fear had sunken in by now, causing his anxiety to rise with each passing second. The darkness felt constricting, almost suffocating the very least. He wanted to leave this place but he didn't even know where he was in the first place._

_ Suddenly, out of the always eerily quiet of the shadows, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the distance. Could it be Lenalee? Or was it something else? Allen stood there hesitantly for second until the footsteps got closer and closer, making it easier to determine that the footsteps didn't belong to Lenalee. The foot falls were too heavy to be hers. So then what was it?_

_ He didn't want to stick around to find out. Turning away from the noise, he began running as fast as he could, his breathing slowly becoming ragged the fast he tried to make himself run. It was as if he wasn't even going anywhere or even moving, the sound of footsteps echoed behind him still the same as he tried to escape. After running forever, the footsteps suddenly vanished, causing him to slowly come to a stop to see if his hearing was correct. _

_ Looking over his shoulder just to make sure, he began to relax as he began to walk forward once more. But he didn't get too far as he ran into something. Frozen in that one spot, he reluctantly began bringing his head back forward, afraid of what he might find. Slowly looking up at the figure that undoubtfully stood before him in the dark, a hallowed light began surrounding the person in front of him, revealing to him who it was._

_ Which caused his blood to run cold._

_ Standing in front of him was none other than the 14__th__ himself. He was grinning cheerfully down at Allen, who had begun trembling in fear as he finally recovered himself and was slowly walking backwards. When the 14__th__ began walking forward, this had caused Allen to trip over his own feet as he fell to the ground. Now the 14__th__ stood looming over him, his smile never deterring the slightest._

_ But it wasn't a smile of what he thought it was. It wasn't a farce in order to deceive him this time. It was in fact a true smile that could be trusted. But given his track record with Allen, the boy wasn't about to forgive and forget. He still carried the fresh emotional wounds that the Noah had inflicted him with that he had pushed himself from even wanting to believe what he had to say. _

"_It's alright Allen, I understand why it is that you cringe from me. Mana would have come but the connection I share with you makes it far more easier to talk with you. But Mana sends his love if you were curious in any way."_

_ Seeing that that didn't help, 14__th__ got down to his level to insure that he didn't appear threatening in anyway. Gazing into his silver eyes that continued to be unending pools of fear with his hazel ones, the Noah pondered on what to do next. After a moments thought, he came up with an idea and with the snap of his fingers, the darkness all flooded out and was replaced with unending white instead of black. A change of scenery here and there and they found themselves on an ending plain of green grass._

_ Now deciding to sit down instead, he allowed Allen a moment to take in the change of scene, actual wind brushing through his hair as it continued on its way. Everything just look healthy and happy, a rare sight during times like these. Switching his gaze back to the 14__th__, he kept his eyes veiled as he stared back at the previous Noah._

"_What do you want?"_

_ Having laid down on his back to stare up at the passing clouds, he switched back to looking at Allen who was keeping his face blank. Smiling once more, he sat back up in order to talk face to face. Even if it didn't show a reaction on Allen's part._

"_I just came here to make sure you were ok. After having tapped into some of the true power of the Heart and having been the way you get sometimes, me and Mana started getting worried about you."_

"_Don't talk to me like you actually care."_

"_You are rightful to not trust me but that is the reason why I came to you. And…because the road you're traveling is becoming ever the more clouded and uncertain. The future for you and for the one you love is dangerous and very much unpredictable."_

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_Because someone has to and I rather that be all I say about this."_

"_You know something don't you? You know what's going to happen to me and to Lenalee."_

"_The future is ever changing as events with several possible outcomes play out. I have seen scenarios of your futures, all of which have changed as time passes by. You know what your destiny truly is and what lies in store for you."_

"_I'm the only one who can to defeat the Earl."_

"_Defeat yes, destroy no. It is still unknown who will truly defeat the Earl but I believe that that question will come to pass in time."_

"_If what you are saying is true, and that I do defeat the Earl, what happens to me afterwards? What happens to Lenalee?"_

"_It is not up to me to tell you the future for fear of creating it into reality. Your question must be answered on your own. What befalls you or Lenalee is up to the two of you to decide and to create. Though your paths have become very obscured, they will continue to intertwine. That much I shall tell you but the rest must be discovered on your own. I have revealed too much and whether you choose to heed my words is up to you. Until we meet again Allen Walker, you who's innocence shall create the Destroyer of Time."_

_ The ever relaxing green field began fading away as the 14__th__ began sending Allen back to the waking world. As everything was nearly gone, the Noah's cheerful smile switched to one of a somber frown. He stood there for a moment before whispering,_

"_May God help you through this. Both of you."_

_ And just like that, he began walking away, towards the darkness that was slowly spreading out in the distance. This war was going to be one of major proportions and sadly, those two exorcists would be smack dab in the middle of it. Such was fate, something that could never be changed easily. Something that rarely ever came to someone at a moments choosing._

*&*

As senses began flooding back, Allen groggily began opening his eyes, blinking blearily at his surroundings. With eyesight slowly returning, he could just barely make out from all the lights that seemed so bright for some reason that he was in the medical center. With vision finally focused, he continued to turn his head around in order to see his surroundings completely, something that would've been a little easier if only he could still see out of his right eye better.

Across from him on a bed as well was Lenalee, still sleeping from what he could tell. Foolishly sitting up, he was assaulted with a stabbing pain to his side, finally noticing the bandages that wrapped around his midriff. Clutching the area momentarily, he felt a hand gently push him to lay back down. Finding it better to comply, he laid back down with no resistance as he was greeted with the calm face of Reever.

"Just stay laying down for now Allen. Lenalee did a number to your ribs so you're going to need to take it easy for a while General."

"General?"

"That's right, you don't know. Roulvier reluctantly moved you up to General rank, knowing your innocence ratio has already cracked a 100%. As soon a Lenalee wakes up, we're going to take her to see Hevlaska to have here innocence looked over again. She might have the possibility of becoming General as well after having heard what Komui's told me about that little display you two did almost a week ago."

"It's been that long? Is Lenalee alright?"

"You two must have used up to much energy on your parts that the only for your bodies to recover was that you sleep. And she is fine, she's in a much better shape then you are if that helps any."

"Will I need to have my innocence looked over as well?"

"It would be wise to do so. But we'll worry about that later. Now you need to rest or at least relax for a while. As soon as you are able to get around without any troubles, Johnny has been itching to get your take on some possible uniform designs that he has planned for making your General uniform."

"I bet he's very eager."

"You're telling me. He insisted on doing right when you woke up but I've managed to keep him at bay by telling him that you were injured and it would be difficult for you to move around while he did your measurements just to make sure the size is befitting."

"Could you tell him to just wait a little longer for me? Hopefully my ribs won't take that long to heal and when they do, I'm all his."

"I'll make sure he gets the word."

"Thanks Reever."

Reever gave him a curt nod before exiting the room to tell the Chief that Allen was awake. Looking over at the still sleeping Lenalee, Allen smiled for a moment before his thoughts went back to the 14th. He had been very dodgy with his questions, basically just repeating himself most of the time. What was he not telling him?

The thoughts were driven away when he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning back to looking at Lenalee, he watched silently as she shifted around in her sleep. Looking back to the door and waiting for a moment, he slowly and painfully began making his way out of bed. Once standing on the cold tile floor with bare feet, he waited as his feet as feeling began to return to his legs. Feeling back in his legs finally, he began walking towards Lenalee's bed, forgetting all too quickly how much pain came from his side.

Gritting his teeth and continuing forward nonetheless, he painfully made it to her bed. Not wanting to wait for the pain to die down before moving once more and only to have it spike up again, Allen continued to move and began getting in her bed. Once safely on, he crawled closer to her before laying down beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist as he pulled her gently closer to him. With her back now pressed against his chest, he let out a painful sigh before resting his head on top of hers.

Laying on his uninjured sigh, he closed his eyes and just let his senses drift once more as the pain had sapped up enough energy to make him sleepy once more. He didn't care how much pain it caused him whenever she would move, he would gladly take it just to stay with her. Staying with her made him forget about all his troubles, worries, or pains. She made him forget about everything as long as he was with her.

_Author's Note: I have nothing else really to say except review. I hope all those who are reading this fanfic are enjoying it so far. And to all those who want Malcolm to die, don't worry. His time will come very soon._


	17. Generals

Ch. 17: Generals

It was about noon by the time Lenalee woke up. At first, she was confused as to why there was a warm and soft barrier behind her. But as she turned over to figure out what it was, she was greeted with a smile from Allen. The smile wavered for a moment, flickering into a momentary grimace before reverting back to the smile from before. That had happened in a span of seconds but that had been long enough for Lenalee to catch it.

After a moments search, her eyes fell on the bandages that were wrapped around his midsection. Instinctively, her hands went to the bandages as they delicately began running across the surface. As they delicately ran over the bandages, her hands began inspecting the damage while touch replaced sight. She could make out at least three shattered ribs, the possibility of the others being at least cracked not that far off from the sight of a peaking dark purple bruise.

Then she remembered what she had done by accident when they had fought the abomination together. She had accidently kicked him in the ribs with her Dark Boots activated. It had been all her fault he was injured. He had suffered while she had got away with minor cuts and bruises. How could he forgive her if she couldn't even forgive herself?

The gentle caress of a hand to her cheek drove her out of thoughts that had filled her head in utter turmoil. Her vision had become blurry, her cheeks wet from unaware crying that had been brought on while she was blaming herself. His hand continued to wipe away her steadily receding tears, her vision clearing so that she could now see his face better. But she didn't want to see his reaction, she didn't want to see any of the possible anger or hate that she felt she rightfully deserved.

She dipped her head down, avoiding any possible eye contact between them. But that was broken when he cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. Reluctantly looking at him, she was greeted with his still smiling face, his eyes unwavering as they revealed his emotions. His powerful metallic silver eyes harbored no hate or anger towards her, quite the opposite. They showed the undying and perpetual love he had towards the fellow exorcist that laid beside him.

Instinct took over as he pressed his forehead lightly against hers, both of them looking into the other's eyes as if peering into their very souls by doing so. Faces now only mere inches apart, Allen kept his lips hovering close to hers, just barely skimming them as he began enticing her to kiss him. As she was about to comply and close the little space left between their lips, the door burst opened. Both of them immediately moved away from the other, their faces paling from the sight of the person standing at the doorway.

Komui stood at the doorway, stunned at first but recovering just fast enough to go shooting at Allen, who had become deathly pale with the realization that he couldn't escape, and wrapped his hands around his neck. His grip an iron vice, he began shaking him around like he was nothing more than a doll, all the while sobbing as he yelled at the poor and unfortunate teen.

"How dare you try to take the purity of my innocent and defenseless Lenalee you white haired devil!? I'm sorry, well actually no I'm not, but I'm going to just have to teach you a lesson you shall not forget!"

"…Lena-lee…HELP……please…-"

Lenalee was trying desperately to release Komui's hold from Allen's neck, finding the task extremely difficult as time slowly passed by. Why must her brother be like this? At first, she had understood the display of protectiveness he never failed to show when he had first came to the Order. She had enjoyed the spurts of affection he had towards her…but that had been when she was little. Now, it was just getting really annoying. Especially when her lover was practically harassed and attacked whenever he tried to display signs of affection.

Luckily Reever came to the rescue, effectively knocking him out by covering his nose with some chemicals he made sure to bring with him just to be safe if something like this were to happen. And it would, trust me. Once his hold around his neck slackened, Allen took in lungs full of air as he rubbed his neck in order to return the blood flow from its momentary stand still.

"What would we do without you Reever?"

"Probably have an early funeral by the look of things. I see your finally awake Lenalee."

She gave him a nod and a generous smile while Reever moved Komui sloppily in a nearby chair. Huffing a sigh and wiping his forehead of some drops of sweat, he turned back to the two exorcists while handing Allen a shirt.

"Seeing as how you're awake at least Lenalee, we might as well go down to see Hevlaska so that she may measure your innocence ratio. I guess you'll have to come too Allen, it wouldn't hurt to have her look over yours as well and there still that Heart business also."

Allen gave a curt nod in understanding as he cautiously began to walk forward reluctantly, each passing footstep sending a stab of pain through his body, particular at his side. His body felt heavy suddenly, as if the weight of the world was coming down on his shoulders. Just when he thought he was going to collapse back down in pain, he felt the arms of Reever and Lenalee wrap around his own, preventing him from falling.

Supporting him now, they made their slow moving journey to Hevlaska's lair.

*&*

The trio stood before Hevlaska, her eerie and translucent form looming over them in her ever intimidating yet gentle size. Lenalee stood in the center, looking up apprehensible as she waited for Hevlaska's inspection. Tendrils outstretching from the ancient exorcist's body in the shape of arms wrapped around her as she lifted her off the ground. This brought back memories of the first time Hevlaska had inspected Allen when he first joined the Order. How he tried to break free of the unwavering hold of the tendrils as they looked over his innocence and his overall potential. And he had somehow managed to break free and over power the numb feeling his arm had been set in when Komui had looked over and fixed his innocence the first time they met.

Those memories seemed so far off compared to the present. He had joined the Order with one goal in mind. To bring salvation to the trap souls that akuma harbored inside them. But as time went on, he had actually experienced an environment where he couldn't just bore everything onto his shoulders. He didn't have to do this alone. He had friends around him that were more than willing to support him and to catch him if he fell.

Now he was ranked a General, something that didn't happen all that often and especially to one as young as he was. And he had half of the key to winning the war inside him. Along with Lenalee, who also had the possibility of becoming General alongside him, something he wouldn't mind having happened. Shaking away the sudden flood of memories, he returned back to reality as Hevlaska began reading off her sync rate out loud. 8%...13%...27%...34%...51%...76%...88%...97%......100%. Upon hearing the current marking of General level, Allen's attention doubled as he continued to stare up to Lenalee. Then he felt himself be lifted off the ground as Hevlaska brought him closer to her view.

Being lifted off the ground like he was nothing was still a nerving feeling to Allen, fighting the very urge to fight back. She lifted him up so that he was facing her, Lenalee not too far away to his right. He suddenly felt tendrils probe his innocence and insides, a wave of extreme pain erupting from his injured side. The pain had become so much that he was barely holding back a scream that was dying to be heard. But slowly, it began to recede, the pain disappearing away as if it had never even been there.

"Allen…Walker…Lenalee…Lee…the two of you are connected through the Heart. The power you had tapped into was only a fraction of the power that lies within the mighty Heart. But it is only when the Heart comes together as one does its true power unleashed. Allen Walker, your innocence had been prophesized as the creator of the Destroyer of Time. I have yet to learn what this entails, but let it be known that the road ahead for the two of you is a dark and uncertain road, one that leads to many dangers. The wheels of fate have been put into motion. Now it is up to the two of you to decide where that will take you."

As she was finishing up, she was lowering them back down to the ground. Once safely back on the ground, the ethereal tendrils pulled back and away from them, merging once more with Hevlaska's body. Peering down at them for a second longer, she began lowering herself down to the darkness of below, disappearing as the blackness of the dark over powered her illuminating white form. The three of them standing there for a moment, they jumped upon hearing another voice behind them.

"Well, that was certainly interesting."

Turning around, they all found Komui taking a sip from coffee mug as he looked forward to the space Hevlaska had previously been before having sunk back down to the eternal abyss of darkness. He had a straight face as he continued looking forward while the other three were gawking at the sudden surprise.

"Sometimes you amaze even me sir."

"Thanks. I'll take that as a complement Reever. Now, let's get our two newest Generals situated, shall we."

We gave the two newly ranked Generals a smile before walking out of Hevlaska's lair and up to the Science Department. Allen and Lenalee smiled at Komui before following behind him as he was steadily walking away from them. Reever was hanging back for a moment as he scratched his head, his thoughts skimming over Hevlaska's words from before. Her words confused him, finding it better to just shake his head in order to drive away her vague words of wisdom. Realizing that he had been left behind, he began running to catch up with the others, leaving Hevlaska to herself in the chamber alone.

_Author's Note: I think this chapter was kind of sucky but idk. Please review._


	18. Party Tonight

Ch. 18: Party Tonight

Allen tugged on the newly designed and newly made uniform Johnny had not failed to make within a day and a half. The over all design didn't waver far from that of the second uniform that had been made for him, with the exception that the trims were gold instead of silver. The sleeves were long and loose, easier to roll up if he needed to.

A hooded cloak accompanied the uniform, showcasing the Order's coat of arms in the form of a buckle that fascine the cloak around his neck. Over all, it was a fairly decent outfit.

Lenalee's uniform hadn't changed that much either. Her skirt had changed to black, the stitching all in gold. Her shirt was still long sleeved, the length of them surpassing the length of her actual arms by only a couple of inches. Gold trimmings replaced the entire one's that would have once been red. Petite white gloves hugged her hands as she got use to the feeling of wearing gloves for once.

A shoulder bag had been made for Lenalee in order to balance out the fact that pouches had been connected to Allen's belt that would serve as carrying innocence. A mask that had been created to enhance Allen's eyesight for his practically blind right eye covered that side of his face, a hand now lingering over it as memories of his master returned to him. The mask reminded him much of his master, the major point being that it would only serve as a reminder of the man he detested so much and the fact that it seemed like he was mimicking his master's style. He wouldn't be wearing a mask in that fashion if it didn't either help him or serve as a piece of costume for a ball of something along those lines.

Both had been inspecting the science member's work, both equally satisfied with the ending outcome, when they were greeted by Froi Tiedoll. Noticing his presence, both of them turned to face him before bowing in a sign of respect. This had only caused him to chuckle before placing a hand on both of their shoulders to show that they didn't need to bow to him.

"I deserve no bows on your parts, or anyone's parts on that matter. You need not bow to me anyways, seeing as how we are equals in war. If only one of my pupils could be made General as well. It would be nice to have Kanda up in the rank, which would make it easier to make sure he is doing well."

"I wouldn't be surprise if Kanda actually did make General anytime soon. He is strong warrior." Lenalee commented before Allen whispered to her,

"A strong-headed and murderous warrior is more like it."

That only earned him a jab in the ribs by her elbow. Tiedoll didn't seem to take any notice of the comment remarked by Allen as he continued to smile at the two younger Generals, straightening his glasses while doing so.

"You are probably right. Oh, before I forget, Komui has requested that I were to stick with the two of you whenever you decide to head out to begin searching for potential accommodators, at least in the beginning until you feel you are ready to part ways with me. Does that sound decent to the two of you? I wouldn't mind if you want to decline the request and my offer to help the two of you get started."

"Thank you General Tiedoll, I think it wouldn't hurt to have a more experienced General show us the ropes until we feel more confident enough to carry out the missions on our own. Your wisdom shall be gladly appreciated. When do you think we ought to leave?"

"Under normal circumstances, I would suggest that we head out now while we still can but rumor has it that a celebration is underway. In celebration of the two of you becoming our newest and so far youngest Generals, and to celebrate a belated and early birthday for you two. The Chief insists that we celebrate an early birthday for you, Miss Lee, only because he wishes to give you a party in fear that he wouldn't see you on your actual birthday, seeing as how there is a strong possibility that you and Allen will be away from headquarters by that time."

"Nii-san…"

"Why does he want to celebrate my birthday? There's no point in doing that now, and I have no desire otherwise."

"I see you are that the much eager to be underway, nothing short of a resemblance between you and the once marvelous and living Marian Cross. Do you wish to be like your Master?"

"Don't compare me to that villainous man!!! He is nothing more than a womanizer that can't get enough of alcohol for his own good." Allen had been spurred by the comment and was quick to be on the defensive about it. But once having that note clear, his tone went back to the usual quite and polite manner, a hand over the mask as he answered the General's question.

"I have no wish in becoming someone like my Master, but I can say one thing positive about him though. He was a determined and relentless man, something in which I can't help but honor in him. And something tells me that that wasn't the end of Master; we'll see him again before this war ends, I know we will."

"I can say I feel the same way General Walker. If there's one thing I know about Cross, it's that he likes to make big exits and entrances. I have no doubt that he is out there and alive somewhere."

The remark had sparked an expected and almost unwanted ray of hope that his Master was still out there in the world, even if he no longer took part in fighting this war. Though he hated to admit it, a tiny piece, a piece so small that no one would be able to know it was even there, he missed the terrible man. Maybe not the unending bills the man would dump unexpectedly onto him, but his strong, demanding and let's not forget arrogant demeanor never failed to put his mind at a tiny bit of ease when ever danger aroused. Even if he knew things he didn't, knowing that he was even there just helped him focus on the situation better. Call them polar opposites, yin and yang, night and day, there'd never be a pair such as themselves so different when it came to Master and apprentice.

Lost in his whirlpool of thoughts, he was brought back to reality when a hand was placed on his shoulder. His attention now brought back to the present, he looked back up to see General Tiedoll giving him a gentle and fatherly smile before bidding himself ado as he left to head for the entrance so that nature may somehow inspire him in his art. Just as the artist had just left, an announcement over the intercom sounded off through out the room and undoubtfully within the other's as well.

"A ballroom party shall be held in honor of Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee for making the General rank tonight at 8:00 pm tonight. All guys must be wearing a tux and all ladies must be wearing a dress. It is a masquerade ball as well, so all must come wearing masks. That is all."

Allen and Lenalee looked to each other as the announcement came to an end, an innocent smile spreading across her lips while Allen scratched his head in amusement.

" I guess we weren't supposed to know anything about a birthday party if they failed to mention it a minute ago, huh."

"Then I guess we'll just have to act surprised, come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Into town with Miranda, Marie, Krory, and hopefully Kanda, if I can convince him."

"What for?"

"To pick out our outfits of course, I'll go with Miranda, and you can go with the guys."

"But what about the Heart, we can only be so far apart before we react to the pain."

"Now that we both have completely synced with our innocence, I want to test this theory of mine out. Allen, stay right there for a moment."

He looked to her apprehensible as she watched him just to make sure that he stayed in that one spot while she began walking slowly away from him. His body was tense in anticipation as he waited for the pain to come any moment now. They were about 30 yards away from each other and he had his eyes tight shut as he braced for the pain to come any minute now. But after another few minutes without the pain flaring up, he slowly opened his eyes, looking up to her shockingly as she continued to smile at him.

"See, I think that because our innocence is at a common level now, we don't have to worry as much about the pain that comes from separation. But it still might be there so we'll just have to be careful."

"I'll take your word over anyone else's, my beautiful butterfly."

"As will I, my handsome clown."

Both laughed at the other's nickname before Allen had offered his arm to her, Lenalee wrapping her arms around it as the two of them made their way around the Order to collect their group.

*&*

The party of six found themselves in the heart of the neighboring town, the streets not overly crowded but not deserted either. Kanda stood away from the others, his aura of loathing for being dragged along coming out in waves, the evil substance surprisingly not affecting the others in any way. They had decided to meet back by the fountain by 5:00 sharp. Giving her one quick peck on the cheek, Allen waved to the two retreating girls before leading the way as they began their search for the appropriate attire. There would be not issue with money because Allen had managed to win a plenty of money in a poker game just hours before so that they would all be able to buy what they needed for tonight's party. No big surprise there.

Marie had to drag Kanda along in order for him to keep up, the samurai wishing that they had Mugen with him instead of it being effectively hidden by Lenalee while Allen and Marie had been left with the responsibility of convince him to join them. He came reluctantly because that would be the only way he could get his beloved Mugen back. But he also had to be at the party for at least one song and then he was free to go. Lenalee had been the one to instill this, and he had no intention of going against her word. Not that he was afraid of her, it was more that he would rather follow through with a deal between her than with Beansprout or Usagi.

The thought of getting Lenalee something came across his mind, but what? What could he give her that would equal in value such as Bai had when she had given him to him on his birthday? There just had to be something that she would appreciate coming from him. Then an idea came to mind, one that he hoped would work out and that she would love in the end. If only Lavi was there to only further his resolve of idea with a statement such as, 'That's too simple' or 'Lenalee isn't going to love something like that Allen!'. Words like that only made his decisions easier to make, because he knew Lavi was only saying things like that to make him go with something else.

Giving a sad sigh, he began looking at the stores, in search for one that specialized in tuxes. After a few minutes search, the four young men finally found what it was they were looking for. Hopefully the girls were having as much luck.

*&*

Miranda was currently having Lenalee look over her dress, a flowing dark blue dress that went all the way to her feet, ribbons laced around the chest area. She had tried on a couple of dresses and was beginning to fell apprehensive the more they found out the dress wasn't for her. But this one seemed just right.

"What do you think?"

"I think this one is the one for you Miranda."

"Do think Marie would like it?"

"I don't know, I don't think Marie would be able to tell one way or another what your dress is like, seeing as how he's blind. But why are you asking me if he'll like it? Do you have a crush with Marie?"

Her suspicious acquisition had caused her older friend to become even more flustered and nervous than she already was.

"No! I mean yes!!! I mean no!!!!! I don't know!!!!!!!"

"It's ok Miranda, I didn't mean to pry into such of a still touchy matter."

"No, no, it's ok, it's my fault anyways. I should know how I feel towards Marie. It's just, whenever I'm around him, he makes me feel safe and protected. I don't know how to describe it. He's a very good listener and his eyes are always soft and unjudging, even if he can't see me."

Seeing her friend downcast, she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her confused friend.

"He still sees you though, just in a different way. He knows it's you when you go up to him. He knows it's you when you talk with him as you two share your problems. He knows it's you when the two of you are in the same room. Don't let the fact that he can't see what you look like discourage you, just be happy that he can see who you are on the inside. And I can almost bet that he likes the inner you, the person that you're truly are if that makes sense."

"Thank you Lenalee, your words did not fail in comforting me. I can always count on you to help me see things through, you are truly a great friend. Now it's time to find you a dress that will surely make Allen fall in love with you all over again."

*&*

Allen sat outside of the shop as he waited for the others to find the right tux. A tailor was helping Marie out, making sure he picked the right size tux that would look dashing on him. Krory was having some trouble finding the right one as well, still deciding if one would look better with his usual cape compared to the other. And Kanda, Kanda wasn't even trying. Another employee would come up to him every so often to show him a tux that might appeal more to the silent samurai. But that earned him was a 'Che' and a look away as a scowl came across his face. If Kanda didn't pick one soon, Allen was going to get him the first one he saw. Regardless if it fit him or not.

Resting his arms on his knees as they supported his head, he watched boredly for the others to finish up. Looking at the surrounding stores nearby, a jewelry store caught his eye. Seeing as how his pockets were full with enough money to spare, he decided to past the time by looking around. Maybe something would catch his eye. Looking around, he stopped in front of a display of rings and necklaces, each one more elegant than the last. He nearly jumped when the owner came to him from behind and asked him if he needed any help.

"No, I'm just merely looking around, that's all."

"Something for a special someone? How long have you two been together?"

"I guess you can say so. I've been with her for almost half a year I guess, but it feels much longer than that."

"Ah, young love, such a beautiful thing."

"I would trade her for nothing else in the world. She's what keeps me going. I would be lost without her. I love her too much to let her go so easily."

"Now you don't get that too often with couples as young as yourselves you know. Consider yourselves lucky if it lasts the way you put it. You might have even found soul-mate."

"Yeah…I guess we are. And I guess…she was always my soul-mate."

"Is there anything I can help you with again?"

"No, but don't be surprise if you see me again sometime soon."

"I'm always open to those who are looking for the right thing."

Allen nodded before exiting the store, all of his companions finally finding there tuxes. Kanda even had one, even though he only picked it just to get the guy to stop bugging him. But that was good enough for Allen as the group left for the fountain where they would find the girls more than likely there waiting for them. Allen's thoughts continued to linger to the jewelry shop as ideas of future possibilities came to mind. If there was anyone he would want to spend his life with, no matter how long that may be, he would want to spend it with Lenalee.

_Author's Note: Please Review. Hopefully this is a sort of foreshadow/hint for what happens in the future._


	19. Come What May

Ch. 19: Come What May

Allen stood within his room, making sure he looked fairly decent, hopefully just enough for Lenalee's liking. At the present moment, he was trying to make sure his hair didn't stick on end, finding out that it was practically useless otherwise. Twirling around the full body mirror in his room, he found nothing else that didn't look messed up or simply looking like it was thrown onto him in a moment's haste. He thought he looked rather dashing, if anyone were to ask him so. With his solid black jacket over a silver shirt and pants that stopped just before his shiny leather shoes, all that was missing now was a mask.

Looking over to the side table next to his bed, he walked over to where his half mask laid, still questioning himself it he should even where it. It was indeed a mask after all, albeit half of one, but without it, he wouldn't be able to see anything as well on his right side. He didn't have anything else and didn't how Kombi would react if he came without one, so he resided with what he had. Picking it back up, he placed it back on his face, making sure that it stayed secure on his face by positioning it to where it normally would fit, a part that wrapped around his ear and another part that fit perfectly pressed against the bridge of his nose.

Running his fingers through his hair once more, he straight the checkered tie before turning to Timcampy, who had been fluttering around the entire time.

"So Tim, what do you think?"

The only answer he got was that of the golem landing on his head as it snuggled against his white hair. Taking that as a definitive yes, Allen tried swallowing so more in order somehow remove the lump that had formed in his throat the closer it came to actual party. Why was he so nervous? It's not like it's anything that major or anything. It's not like he was getting married, right? The thought of marriage caused a smile to spread across his face as a blush blazed on his face as well before shaking the impossible and improbability of that happening in the future. His future was that of darkness, and he would be lucky enough if he made it to his 18th birthday before this war ended. But what if he were to get married while he was still young and still had some time? Only in his dreams.

Feeling adequate with his appearance, he exited his room an hour before the party actually would begin, hoping that Lenalee wouldn't be there as he got ready for Lenalee's gift. Hopefully it would at least make her smile. Just before he closed his door, Bai came dashing out, barking happily beside his Master's legs. The puppy's shoulders reached up to his knees, his fur growing in length and his ears now pointing more erect than their previous floppy positions. Bai was sure developing fast for a dog that wasn't even half a year old.

Running his hand through his white dog's fur, he stroked him affectionately before he bent down onto his knees to ruffle around with the fur some more. Staying like that for a few minutes, he got back up before making his way to the cafeteria where the party would be held, Bai following him along.

*&*

Opening both the doors that led into the cafeteria, Allen could see that only a couple people were even there, most of them being Finders, who were setting up the instruments. Some violins, a couple of cellos, a guitar, some trumpets, and yes, a piano. Just what he needed to make his plan work. Walking over to the conjugated group of Finders who could and would be playing the instruments, he whispered to them what he had in mind. None of them ejected his proposal, all of them willing to even go along with it. Nodding in thanks, he walked over to the piano, his fingers running against the smooth, glossy surface before falling upon the keys.

Pausing for a moment, he slowly began to sit himself on the piano bench, his fingers still laying on the piano as they waited for the mental command to begin playing. Even with the 14th gone from within him, he still retained the ability to play like a pro. Hopefully he could still sing if he wanted to. Releasing a sigh, he began to play a complex song on the piano, his fingers moving lightning fast in order to keep up with the usual fast beat that came with most complex pieces. All the while doing so, Bai had hoped up beside him, cocking his head to the side in fascination for the strange instrument. His tail swished around with the beat, he even went as far as throwing back his head a couple of times as he howled to the song. That brought a smile to his face as he continued unfaltering with a few more songs.

After his little warm up, he took a little break, noticing that as the time drew closer, more and more people were showing up. But so far, Lenalee hadn't arrived. Krory could be seen near the punch pool, having an animated discussion with a Finder near the food table as well. Switching his gaze back down to Bai, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he stared up at Allen with eagerness, he clasped his puppy by the ears before saying:

"Ok Bai, I need you to do something for me. I need you to go and escort Lenalee down here. Do you think you can do that for me?"

The answer he received was in the form of a bark before the puppy jumped off the bench and began running out of the cafeteria, bumping into arriving people every now and then in his excitement. Watching his puppy slowly mix in with the in coming crowd, he too got off of the piano bench when he realized he was missing one key component for his outfit. Walking over to a bouquet of flowers that had been placed, along with several others, all around the cafeteria and picked a shimmering white rose before placing it in his breast pocket. How silly of him for forgetting the flower?

*&*

Lenalee stood in front of her mirror, still deciding on what to do with her hair. It wasn't like she could put it up in pony tails; it was still too short for that if she wanted it to look good. She would have gone with a bun but it wouldn't look as good with straight hair. Sighing in defeat, she sat at the foot off her bed as she pondered over what she should do. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of shimmering clips that had been left on her bed. Turning so that she could see them completely, she noticed a note attached to one of them, saying a happy early birthday and from Reever. They were a pair of intricate butterflies, both of them jeweled in what looked like purplish, almost pink opal.

Picking them up, she looked them over before deciding that she would put them in her hair instead, seeing as how they went well with her dress. Slipping them into her hair, she went back to the mirror and smiled at the result. The two clips went well with her dress, a white gown that fell to her feet, complemented with a light purple tinted corset hugging her chest, and flowing sleeves that draped down slightly past her hands. Feeling satisfied, she went over to pick up her mask, a simple yet elegant glittered white mask that would only serve in going over her eyes.

Just as she was putting on her mask, a scraping sound could be heard on the other side of her door. Looking at the door perplexedly, she slowly made her way to the door before opening it up to discover what it was that was making all the noise. As soon as she opened the door she heard a volley of barking before she felt a swift tug all the way at the bottom her dress. Switching her gaze to looking down, she was greeted by Bai as he wagged his tail excitingly in front of her. Giggling at his playful manner as he continued to persist on tugging on the hem of her dress, she reluctantly began to follow him, seeing as how she might as well get on her way to the party for it would start very soon. That seemed to be what his whole idea was for he would stop every so often to make sure she was following him even though they were both initially heading for the same destination. But no one was protesting with that.

*&*

It was 8:00 and just about everyone was there. Komui stood near the entrance waiting for Lenalee to join them so that they could really begin, a glass of wine in hand as he talked animatedly with some of the other science members, all of which were in black tuxes with various styled masks. Komui was the only one who stood out from the sea of black, he was in a white tux, sticking out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else. Kanda stood to the side, his back pressed against the wall and his arms folded over his chest as he waited aggrievedly to get this over with. No one had begun dancing, all rather hanging back and waiting for someone else to start instead. Music played nonetheless, Allen sitting at the piano while waiting for Lenalee to arrive.

Upon hearing a faint bark coming from Bai nonetheless, he turned to the Finders who had been playing the music and they all nodded before waiting for his lead to begin, all the music slowly dying down upon Lenalee making an entrance. She was wafted with many congratulations and happy early birthday and job well done. Komui was hugging her like there was no tomorrow, forgetting all about his wine as he pulled her in a bone crushing hug, tears falling down his face while doing so.

"Nii-san, you don't need to cry, it's not like I'm getting married or anything. It's only a party."

"Yes but first its parties, then it's far away and long missions that I don't assign you, and next you're getting married! I don't like how fast things are going, I want you to stay with me, your loving brother, so that we can live happily together. Your growing up so fast and I don't know how I feel about that."

"I'm only turning 17 in a couple of weeks nii-san, I'm not 18 or 19 when I'm considered an actual adult. But don't worry, I'll always be with you, maybe not physically all the time like when I'm on missions but with you spiritually."

"AH MY LENALEE HAS MATURED INTO A FINE AND INTELLIGENT YOUNG WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!! HOW CAN I PROTECT YOU FROM MONSTERS LIKE ALLEN WHILE YOU ARE AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She sweat dropped as he continued to sob into her shoulder, Reever trying to pull him off of her. The whole ball room was in a pretty much uproar from there, Lenalee asking some of the other science member's where Allen was. None of them knew and just when she was about to move on, she stopped upon hearing the sound of a piano begin to play. This must have grabbed everyone's attention as well, for the whole ballroom stopped in mid-sentence as they all turned to face the pianist as he continued playing the soft melody. And after a while, the young man began to sing to the song he was playing, one that Lenalee knew as well.

_Never knew I could feel like this_

_Like I've never seen the sky before_

_Want to vanish inside your kiss_

_Everyday I love you more and more_

Everyone stood silent as they listened to his soft yet confident voice sing the lyrics of a song, all of them eager to hear his voice even more with each passing lyric. Allen continued to play while staring at the piano, fully aware that Lenalee was somewhere amongst the crowd.

_Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?_

_Telling me to give you everything_

_Seasons may change, winter to spring_

_But I love you_

_Until the end of time_

_Come what may_

_Come what may_

_I will love you_

_Until my dying day_

He stopped for a moment in the song, continuing on by playing the piano but another voice picked up where he left off. Smiling mostly to himself, he turned his head while subconsciously still pressing certain keys, he watched as Lenalee emerged from the crowd, her angelic voice singing to the song he was playing. While doing so, he got up from his seat, a Finder replacing him at the piano as he walked over to her slowly.

_Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place_

_Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace_

_Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste_

_It all revolves around you_

They both stopped in front of each other as she continued to sing. As slowly began to change into the duet, he hand position one hand against her waist while the other stayed hung in the air as he waited for her to grasp hers with his. Following suit, she placed one hand into his while the other laid atop his shoulder, both of them twirling around as they began to waltz, all the while singing to the song.

_And there's no mountain too high_

_No river too wide_

_Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side_

_Storm clouds may gather,_

_Ands stars may collide_

_But I love you (I love you)_

_Until the end of time (until the end of time)_

A circle had formed around the two of them as the two newest Generals danced with one another, their voices fitting perfectly with one another's. They continued to twirl around, their bodies almost pressed against each other, their foreheads pressing against each other though.

_Come what may_

_Come what may_

_I will love you _

_Until my dying day_

_Oh, come what my, come what may_

_I will love you, Oh I will love you_

_Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place_

_Come what may_

_Come what may_

_I will love you_

_Until my dying day_

With the finish, Lenalee had been in the midst of a spin and as she came back to his arms, he pulled her harder so that he had was sure their bodies would be pressed against each other. The entire room stayed silent for a moment, before an outbreak of a cheers and applause consumed the large space. Amongst the cheering, and wailing on Komui's part, Allen bent his head down to her ear as he whispered to her.

"Happy early birthday my graceful and beautiful butterfly. I hope this gift to you was sufficient enough. It was the only thing I could think of that you'd might like."

"I loved it. It's something I shall never forget. But if you don't mind, can that be our song?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"One more question."

"Ask away."

"Where did you learn that song?"

The question had made Allen grimace at the thought of how he had learned that song.

"What?"

"Nothing…it's just that, I learned that song after hearing sung by my Master so many times. Ladies would just fall for him whenever he sung that song. It's sickening really."

"So are you suggesting that you only sang this to get me to fall for you?"

"No of course not! The song reminded me of us so I decided to sing it. How many times will it take for you to understand that I'm nothing like my Master."

She gave him a devilish smile as their faces drew closer together, his hot breath rolling down her face with each exhale.

"Just one more."

"I'm nothing like my Master."

He also gave her a smile before kissing her in the process, breaking any space that had been left between them. His lips pressed over hers, his tongue hesitantly making entrance into her mouth. That lasted for what seemed like hours until they reluctantly broke apart, both needing air to breath. But that stop Allen as he continued a line of kisses down her neck, earning some in return across the jaw line. Thankfully they were surrounded by tons of dancing couples, making it harder for them to be spotted by Komui, who was currently on the look out for them.

Time seemed to have no affect what's so ever on the party as they continued dancing to their heart's consent, eating away at the food that had been laid out, and socializing with all their friends. It was cheerful and joyous night, one that provided merriment to all those who had attended, save Kanda, who had made a secret get away after having listened to Beansprout for only a few seconds. But beside that, it was happy, as they celebrated the two new Generals and their birthdays.

The party would serve as a small token that proved that there were still moments of bliss within these troubled times. Excluding Kanda, the only person who was not there was Roulvier. He was currently out on the balcony that led into his room, slowly getting drunk off of continuously drinking glasses of wine. He was upset and he was drowning it out with liquor, something he would never be caught dead doing until now. It was the only way he could wash his troubles away, if only for a moment. But they seem to keep on giving him hell because just below him, he could make the forms of Allen and Lenalee as they stood alone on the balcony just across and below his.

Whatever they were saying, he couldn't make out and rightfully didn't care. All that mattered to him was that he wanted to hurt the two of them as much as he could. The party was rightfully going to end sometime soon, the position of the stars suggesting that it was near 1:00 in the morning. And they would have to get to their rooms some way or another. So in his drunken stupor, he groggily made his way out of his room and up onto his way to Lenalee's room, the closes one to his. There he would wait like a stealthy cobra, awaiting patiently for the right moment to strike.

_Author's Note: The Death of Malcolm is upon us. And to those who miss Lavi, don't worry, he'll make a day view again. I don't own Come What May that's in the movie, Moulin Rouge. Please Review._


	20. Attack

Ch. 20: Attack

The Earl sat in his study, sewing away as the thread began take form as mittens. He was whistling while going about his business, silently plotting his next move to strike. Reinforcements weren't at an all time high and with each grouped attack from his akuma, his army would slowly deplenish. If he wanted to succeed, the attack had to be a full out scale battle, one that would decide which side one in the end. But that could wait, until all of his akuma were smart enough to stay hidden and level up in the shadows. Only when his akuma were leveled up to level 4s would he strike with them.

But they were merely the pawns, and the Noah were his knights, rooks, bishops, and Road would play the part as queen, being the oldest child in all. And would play the part as the king, making it game over if he fell. On enemy territory, the annoying Finders that were everywhere were the pawns, the exorcist were the knights, rooks, and bishops. The one exorcist who was possessing the Heart was the queen. And his long time rival, Allen Walker, was the king. They were all merely chess pieces, waiting for one side to make the first move. And the Earl got to go first.

Conjuring up a mock chess board with the pieces forged in the shape of their larger counterparts, he set them all up and made the first move. Moving one akuma out, the other side moved next, moving the most logical piece, the Finder in front of the akuma piece. But a spot had been open for his bishop to begin moving on the board. While he sat there, waiting for the next piece to move, a knock on the door stirred him from his concentration.

"Come in."

Looking up to the door, he spied through the shadows the silent form of Lulubell standing patiently before him.

"You called for me my Lord."

"Yes, how would you like to go to the Order again?"

At the mention of the Order, the Noah stiffened as memories of her previous excursion came back to her. How she had failed and had been shamelessly driven away. Fury flickered up in her eyes as a new found lust to exact her revenge flared inside her.

"What are your orders sir?"

"Stir up the order for me. Don't kill any of them yet though. That would contradict my master plan. But fill free to brutally maim them if you want instead. If any signs of trouble arise, you get out of there quickly. I can't afford to waste one of my valuable Noahs to a trivial attack such as this one."

"Would you want me to bring some akuma or one of the other Noah?"

"No akuma this time…"

After having watched the other side move yet another Finder pawn, he turned to one of the knights and pondered over the piece for a moment before moving it forward and in the vicinity of the bishop.

"You may take Cyril with you though."

"Yes my Lord."

She gave him a deep bow before leaving him to himself once more. The Earl sat back for a moment to look over the board. The other side had failed to move yet, the anticipation growing with each passing second. But there was no need to rush into things. Events would simply play out in the end and in the way he intended them to be. All he had to do was have a little patience.

*&*

Allen and Lenalee stood out on the balcony, the steady blow of the wind tossing around their hair as they stared out into the night. Times like these they would always treasure, something that hadn't been for the worse of this war. It was simply a part that had not been touched by such atrocities of war.

The night was growing old and the party was beginning to die down. They continued to stand out there, Lenalee leaning against Allen's chest while had his arms wrapped around her waist as he rested his head atop of hers, both in utter bliss. Just being with the other brought on this feeling, both of them just basking in the other's presence. They didn't want the night to end but tiredness was slowly starting to sink in, causing the two exorcists to begin their accent back up to their rooms.

Being the gentleman he always was, Allen escorted her to her room, making sure she got there safely. But as they neared it, a strange feeling filled him, a feeling that suggested that something wasn't right. Just wanting to be sure about it, he entered her room as well, hoping that the feeling would go away if he looked over her room for just a moment. But he didn't want to just let himself in, he felt to embarrass to just follow her into her own room. So instead he stood at the door, Lenalee oblivious to the fact until she turned to close her door.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well…it's just that…um…"

"Allen, would you like to come in my room for a moment?"

"No…I mean yes! I mean…I don't know. I don't have an impulse to do, you know, that. But I can't shake this feeling that something is going to happen and I just want to make sure you're safe. I'm not some horny teen that wants to score with his girlfriend, if you understand where I'm getting at. At least, not right now and certainly not tonight."

He was blushing furiously, his head bowed down as his hair veiled his eyes. Lenalee was also blushing but bid him to come in nonetheless. Cautiously walking in the room, the room was shrouded in darkness, void of any form of light. The curtains were drawn forward, covering the window that would have surely brought in some light. Still looking around, Lenalee moved over to the dresser in her room, pulling out some night clothes that she would change into. Turning to Allen and coughing as a hint for him to step out for a moment. At first, being as dense as he was, didn't get it until she actually asked him to leave for a moment. Nodding quickly, he silently left the room for a moment, taking one last look at Lenalee before closing the door.

The darkness seemed to increase, so Lenalee made her to one of the lamps at her beside, placing her clothes onto the bed. Standing before it, she motioned to turn the gas lamp on before a hand shot from the darkness and wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from finishing her task. Fear crept up into her, it escalating to an all time high when she was forced up against the wall. Hands now pinning her arms against the wall, preventing her from fighting back, she looked around frantically for some idea to come to mind. She had removed the anklets from around her ankles before the party, a faulty mistake on her part.

Just as she was about to scream in fear, a hand released it's hold on one of her arms and covered her mouth, a shushing sound coming from her attacker. Upon hearing his voice, the idea of kneeing him, if it was indeed a guy, washed away as petrifying fear consumed her. She need no light to tell who was pinning her to the wall. It was Malcolm C. Roulvier. The Hitlerish man.

"Be quiet you worthless piece of shit."

She couldn't move, fear had immobilized her body to the point where she could hardly breath. But that didn't prove much different when she suddenly felt hands wrap around her throat, elevating her off the floor, hands struggling to pull them off. All her attempts were futile, the breath already gone from her body. Just when she thought she was going to black out, she was slammed harshly to the floor, the hands removed from her around her neck. As she laid there dazed and out of breath, a shoed foot planted itself on the side of her head, slowly applying pressure down against the soft surface. Too tired and too scared to chance at looking upon the face of a mad man, she struggled to remove his foot from the side of her head, only earning her even more pressure upon her skull.

A swift jab to her ribs from the other foot sent her rolling forward and out from under his boot. Laying there for a moment, air having not completely return to her lungs, she shakingly got back up onto her hands and knees, fatigue running throughout her body as her head continued to spin around her. Just when she thought it was over, her body beginning to sink back down to the ground, a ruff hand grabbed her hair and pulled it up harshly, pulling her head back up along with it. Whimpering slightly in protest, she stifled the cries back so that she may not show the weakness that had come over her. Malcolm stood crouched beside her, grinning down at her as he revealed in her pain. A wave of alcohol emitting from his breath waft over her, causing her to scrunch up her face in disgust.

"If that abomination couldn't get rid of you then I guess I have no other choice but to do it myself."

Her eyes went wide when she noticed that he had pulled out a revolver. Seeing the weapon brought on a feeling of hopelessness. No one was going to save her in time before he killed her. But fate was on her side for just when he was bringing the gun back and cocking it, the door burst open and in came a pissed Allen. He came charging in, throwing all of his weight against the drunk man. Both of them ramming into a wall, the loaded weapon went off, causing Allen to stagger a moment backwards from the view Lenalee was given.

"ALLEN!!!!"

She couldn't tell if he had been hit but if he had, he didn't show it, for he went back to attacking like before, as if it never even happened. Clawing at the representative of the Vatican, he forced the evil man out of the still dark room and out in the open hall way. Lenalee hastily picked herself up, ignoring her throbbing head as she ran out to further watch the fight in horror. Standing in the door frame, she stood there in silence and maximum fear as the weapon went off once again. This time she could see him take an injury as a spray of blood shot up from the top of his right shoulder, the bullet having merely grazed the surface of the skin before lodging itself into the concrete wall in front of it.

Witnessing this brought forth the tears that had been threatening to show up earlier. Standing there petrified, she stayed as a mere spectator as more and more people came out to see what was going on. Allen had grabbed hold of the barrel of the gun, trying desperately to yank it out of the Inspectors hands, finding that a challenge. A final shot could be heard ringing out from the center of the fight, the whole crowd falling silent as both fighters froze for a moment, both of their bodies tense. A gasp resounded throughout the crowd as both fighters slowly began to bring their heads down to see the damage that had been dwelt.

Allen's activated clawed hand was sunk deep into the Inspectors abdomen, blood flowing freely from the wound. A bullet hole could be seen upon Allen's lower chest, having shot right into his body as it barely missed the bottom of his rib cage. Blood was also flowing freely from the wound, dying his silver shirt an ugly muggish red. Both of them stayed like that for moments, Roulvier's face beginning to pale drastically as time went on. Allen was the first to move as he dislodged his left arm from Roulvier's abdomen, only furthering the profound blood flow.

Both staggered to the side, Malcolm dropping the gun from his practically limp hand. Leaning against the side railing that separated them from free falling, with one final spurt of energy, Roulvier charged at the still shell shocked Allen, knocking the both of them over the edge. Another gasp irrupted from the crowd as they all followed to see what became of them while leaning heavily over the railing. Lenalee was the first to make it there, trauma washing over her as waited to see what would surely be the end of her beloved clown. But she was mistaken.

Using Crown Belt at the last minute, he had used it to wrap around one of the railings, saving him from a nasty fall. And clinging to his shoe was a fearful and confused Inspector, hanging on for dear life as Allen tried to pull himself back up over the railing. But the weight was steadily becoming too much for him to handle until a hand grabbed him roughly by the collar and pulled him over. Now down a level, Lenalee hastily grabbed her innocence and rushed to the lower level to see if he was better than he looked.

Allen laid sprawled across the tile floor, his body throbbing all over as Krory helped back up. Malcolm was breathing heavily, the stress of the wound taking its toll on him finally. As all was beginning to seem like it was calming down, besides the fact that a fight had broken out, an explosion went off further below. Back to looking over the railing, all the others watched as the smoke began to clear and reveal who and what had caused it. Two Noah stood amidst the smoke, one of them smiling devilishly while the other simple looked impassive at the seen.

By now, Lenalee had made it to Allen, who was peering down as well. Noticing her, he gave her a smile before pulling her into his arms, ignoring all the pain coming from his body.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

"Not as bad as you. We need to take you to the Nurse to have you looked at."

"Later. Right now, we're under attack."

He slowly let go of his hold around her before glaring down at the two Noah that were swiftly making their way up towards him. Malcolm still laid with his back against the wall, taking in sharp intakes of breath, before getting to his feet, oblivious to the current Noah epidemic. Walking over to Allen he drew back a fist to punch him, thinking that the fight wasn't over. But all Allen could do was watch as the new Noah came charging in, sending the Inspector back against the wall. Feet slamming down hard against his chest, the Noah stood there perplexed as the barely struggling and bleeding Malcolm tried to rid himself of the Noah. But that didn't last much longer as the Noah went to walk away, his foot crashing down on the Inspector's head, ending his life right then and there.

"Whoops, sorry about that Hitler. Didn't see you there a minute ago. Great, now my new shoes are ruined thanks to your filthy blood."

Lulubell had turned to him, a scowl on her face.

"Lord Millennium said that none would be killed Cyril."

"It's not like I did it on purpose or anything. He was just in my way."

She scoffed at his remark and turned to face the three exorcists that stood in front of them. Allen was glaring at her with anger filled eyes, sending daggers right at her. Bringing out his Sword of Exorcism, he charged forward, surprising both Krory and Lenalee who were holding back for a moment. As he fought the Noah, Krory turned to Lenalee.

"You must go alert the others. Tell them we're under attack!"

Krory didn't stay long enough to see if she understood for he charged at the Noah called Cyril. She stood there for a moment as the two exorcists continued fighting before activating her innocence to report this invasion to her brother. And so the final battles begin.

_Author's Note: Sorry if this all feels rushed. I wanted to start the fight between the Noahs and I also wanted Malcolm to die. And he did! Let us all cheer in joy!!!! To bad he died just because he got stepped on. Oh well. Serves him right. Sorry again if this chapter was a disappointment in anyway. Please review. Next chapter should be up around Monday, no later than Tuesday. _


	21. Cyril Kamelot and Lulubell

Ch. 21: Cyril Kamelot and Lulubell

Allen and Krory were jumping off the walls, trying to confuse the enemy on where they would strike next. At first, it worked, but the two Noahs weren't naïve and definitely not stupid. They got on after a couple of tries and before long, Cyril had gotten a hold of Krory's ever present and pulled him out of his continuous dodging. The sudden yank began choking him as he was pulled closer to the Noah. Once in a closer range, Cyril kneed him in the face, sending him skyward from the strong attack. Striking a cocky grin, he didn't realize Allen was charging after him just when he was about to follow Krory upwards to finish him off. Turning too late, he was assaulted by a range of slashes from the Sword of Exorcism, most of which had landed some kind of mark before the blade was carelessly grasped in the Noah's hands. Smoke rising from the accumulating burns that were coming from him touching the innocence after a given amount of time, Allen continued to stare him down with angered filled perplexity, trying to figure out why the Noah was still smiling.

"You forgot there was two of us boy."

Realization soon dawned on him as a pool of water irrupted below him, shooting him upward with a pillar of water surrounding him. Forgetting about his sword for a moment, he began flailing around in search of oxygen that didn't even exist within the humanoid body of water. Catching something out of the corner of his eye, a black blur shot through the Noah that had taken the form of water and wrapped their arms around his barely conscious form. Immerging out of the water, the two exorcists laid roughly to the ground, Allen coughing up the water that was in his lungs, and Krory was slicking back his hair before he tried wringing the water from his sopping wet cape. Keeping a protective stance in front of Allen, he activated his innocence one step further as blood began consuming his hands, transforming them into lethal claws. Smirking at them, he charged once more, leaving Allen alone to recover from his momentary lapse.

Slashing like a mad animal, he alternated between the two, both of them trying to get a good strike on him. Allen shakingly got back up to his hands and knees, coughing up some blood from the forgotten gut shot to his body. Dyeing the moisten ground a murky brown color, he slowly got back up on his feet as he called back his fallen blade. Breathing heavily now as he hosted the sword into a suitable stance, he was about to shoot straight back into the fight when a bluish black blur beat him to it. Unsheathing his beloved Mugen, Kanda came charging in his place within the fight, aiding the desperate Krory in his fight. Calling forth his illusion sword, Kanda was a fury of slashes as he attempted bring down Cyril as Krory switched to Lulubell.

Allen hung back longer, collapsing down to his knees, a hand clutching his shoulder before going down to his lower chest as he was assaulted by a wave of aggravated pain. His vision continued to focus in and out, a dull ringing filling his ears as the colors around him seemed to distort to red, black, and white. Removing his hand from over his chest, he moved it up to the left side of his hand, resting against his temple for a moment before drawing back from a stinging sensation that came when he touched. Bringing back his trembling hand, he took in the blood stained glove that was dripping with the sticky substance. _'Damn Inspector.' _Trying once more against the pain, he got back up shakingly, almost collapsing once more if it were the gentle sensation of arms wrapping around his waist from the side. Cocking his head to the side, he was greeted by a smiling Lenalee, her eyes showing all the concern she had for him.

"Awe, some fresh prey. And a pretty one at that." Commented Cyril as he flung Kanda to the side like he was nothing but a rag doll, and went charging towards the couple. The sheer speed was surprising and supporting Allen wasn't making it any easier to guard him. Bracing herself for the impact, she closed her eyes for a moment as Cyril drew closer. She hadn't been aware of the sudden shift by Allen as he turned his back to the charging Noah, a full attempt to absorb the attack to his back than to allow Lenalee to suffer along with him.

After a moments wait, Lenalee shot open her eyes upon feeling a spray of blood fall upon her face that was followed by sounds of coughing and gagging. Looking up fearfully, she was greeted with the white haired General keeping his head bowed down, his shoulders sagging slightly as he struggled to keep standing. Cyril grabbing the back of his head, jerking it back as he pulled on a fist full of his white hair. Lenalee could see his eyes now, the once powerful silver pools now broken down to exhausted pools of storm grey. Allen gave her a forced smile, ignoring the fact that the Noah was keeping his head up like that by pulling his hair. And ignoring the current circumstances, Allen asked her the dreaded question.

"Are you okay?"

She froze. Why did he always have to ask if she was okay when he clearly wasn't? Why did he always have to take the hit for other's, not even realizing how it affects those around him when that selflessness of his made them feel weak and shameful? Why did he always have to do this to her?! She wanted to make him see that but right now wasn't exactly a good time. She didn't get a chance to answer, if he was even looking for an answer, before Cyril pulled him harshly to the ground, his injured back slamming hard against the tiled floor. Cracks stemmed from the initial impact, the Noah looking down at the fallen exorcist before looking back up at Lenalee.

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I was about to indulge myself in battle with this beautiful young lady standing before me."

His air of arrogance was starting to get Lenalee pissed. Keeping her head bowed down, her body began trembling in anger and fear as both combatants stood in front of each other without so much as making a move.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings for making your hubby a bloody pulp? Well you should've thought about that before he got in front of you or when I came charging towards the two of you. Honestly, there's no one to blame but yourself."

That was it. With anger fueling her innocence further, she began kicking him rapidly, trying to stop the tears that continued to fall angrily down her face. Catching a part of his shoulder, she sent another kick whirling around to the back of his head, sending him flying back to the others. With glass monocle falling from his face and shattering on the ground, he gave an upset sigh before looking back up right when she stood right in front of him. Sweeping one foot underneath him, the Noah's ankles buckled underneath him, causing him to fall to the ground. Before she gave him a chance to fall to the ground, she kneed him in the gut, sending back up uncontrollably.

Jumping up after him, she brought her legs under his carelessly outstretched arms and flipped him and sent him crashing back down. As he began to free fall, Lenalee brought down the full force of her innocence down onto his back, causing the both of them to fall down all the way to the first level of the Order. Kanda had been watching for a moment as he began calculating for just the right moment to jump over the railing, he hurled himself over the edge and landed on the Noah as well. Bringing out Mugen once more, he sent his single edged sword down through the back of the annoyed Noah. Growling as he tried to apply enough force to send some sort of pain to the Noah. But all he got was some hissing from the jumped Noah as he tried to yank the sword out of him.

Noticing that they were about to make it to the ground, Kanda reluctantly withdrew his sword before jumping to the side in order to avoid unnecessary death on his part if he were to stay any longer. Grabbing hold of the railing of one last spirals around the tower, just above the ground, and swung himself up onto it. Perching onto it like a lethal cat waiting for the right moment to strike, he looked down at the accumulating smoke that had risen when Lenalee and Cyril went crashing down. With eyes narrowed, he waited with his body tense just in case he had to spring in there to help out Lenalee, patiently waiting for the smoke to clear so that he may see the ending result. As the smoke finally began thinning out, Kanda unsheathed Mugen from it's sheath, his teeth grinding together as he watched the still standing and still fighting Noah.

A sudden explosion from above drew his attention upward as he made out the form of his General having sent Lulubell crashing down with her fellow Noah, following not too far by Tiedoll and Krory. Watching them land unprofessionally, he waited ever so patiently for one of the Noah's to expose their backs to him so that he may strike unexpectedly. Controlling his breathing, he stayed virtually undetected in the looming shadows that hung above the other combatants, stealthily walking on the railing as he circled the fight. With Cyril grabbing hold of Lenalee's hands, he looked them over as if inspecting them.

"What delicate hands you have my dear. I wonder what would happen if I did this!"

Wrapping his hands over hers, he applied pressure to her fingers until a faint popping sound could just barely be heard by him, the sound similar to twigs snapping as he continued furthering his already applied pressure. A demented grin slowly began to spread across his face as he released his hold from around her broken or dislocated fingers, stepping back as she fell to the ground, staring at her fingers in horror as a scream filled the battle zone. Keeping her damaged hands to her chest, she bent forward, already on her knees as she began rocking back and forth in an attempt to release herself of the ever throbbing pain coming from her hands. Kanda had just about enough of watching now. Releasing a mighty battle cry, he propelled himself at the Noah, catching him off guard as he sank his blade deep into Cyril's chest. Summoning his insects from hell, the Noah's arm seemed to blast out of place, leaving a gaping hole where his arm should've been. Looking down at it with amusement, he watched as the arm re-grew and replaced the missing arm from before.

Kanda stood with his mouth slightly agape, this his first time of witnessing something like this happening after taking a large amount of damage. Shaking it away, he brought back his second illusion sword and began slashing aggressively at the dodging Noah. Catching the samurai by surprised and off guard, Cyril appeared behind him and grabbed a hold of his sword wielding arm. Applying pressure the forearm, he relinquished his hold around the appendage upon hearing the bones from inside crack, some going as far as shattering. As the sudden wave of unexpected pain hit him, Kanda released his hold from around Mugen, allowing his weapon to fall out of his hands and to the ground as he fell to one knee. Clutching the broken arm to his body, he looked up angrily as the Noah just grinned down at him as he began to circle him cheeringly.

"You exorcist are no fun. You all get broken easily. How am I suppose to fight you all when it doesn't take a seconds thought that I can break your entire body with a simple touch if I wanted to. But the Earl has his orders; no one gets killed, just maimed. Oh joy this is turning out to be. Honestly, how do you all expect to defeat the Earl if you can't even defeat his pawns in this simple game of chess? You all are pathetic if you ask me."

Snarling at the Noah, Kanda moved to pick up his sword but a sudden flash of white caught his attention as a figure came crashing down from above. Booted feet landing a top of Cyril's shoulders, the sound of someone huffing could be heard coming from the person standing on the Noah's shoulders.

"huff-huff-you talk too much……"

With expression becoming aware and annoyed, he awaited there as a broad sword came crashing down onto his shoulder, almost amazed that the kid didn't aim for the head. The weight causing him to finally buckle to the ground, both Noah and General fell to the ground, the Sword of Exorcism becoming unlodged from Cyril's shoulder as they landed to the ground with a thud. He could feel the pain of the sword's power beginning to exorcise the Noah genes from within. As white crosses began to form around his wounded shoulder, Cyril looked at the injury infuriated before switching his gaze to the still fighting Lulubell.

"Lulubell! I think it's time to make a marvelous exit, wouldn't you say?"

"I was waiting for you."

The female Noah jumped out of the way of the oncoming attacks before falling to her companion's side, allowing his to sling one arm over her shoulders as she called for the ark. Seeing the gateway materialize in front of them, Lulubell walked into the gateway while half dragging Cyril along for the ride. Turning to the exorcist, she gave them all a blank and expressionless face before saying, "The final battles between light and dark begin. We shall meet again before this war comes to an end."

Closing her eyes, the gateway began dissolving away along with it's Noah occupants. All the exorcists looked to where the gateway once stood before returning to where the fallen Allen laid. Lenalee was still hunched over, sobbing from the pain her broken fingers were causing her. Being the closest to her, Kanda began walking over to her, already having sheathed Mugen. Hovering over her, he gave her an annoyed look before bending down and picking her up. Keeping her cradled in one arm, keeping his broken one limp at his side, he ignored the looks he was getting from his Master and Krory, already thanking God that Lavi wasn't there to say anything that he would surely regret. At least Beansprout was out of it to realize that he was carrying Lenalee away and to the infirmary. But hey, it was between carrying her or Beansprout, and he'd much rather carry her than that stinking excuse for a General.

Watching the samurai's receding form as he carried the still crying girl away, Krory turned back to Allen before walking to his unconscious form. Bending down, he supported his fellow comrade by slinging one of his arms across his shoulders, the Sword of Exorcism reverting back as his left arm. Half dragging him, Krory began Kanda's direction to the infirmary so that he too could be looked at. All that was left now was Tiedoll, finally realizing that alarms were going off around him, alerting all those who didn't already know that they had been attacked. Komui came rushing into the scene, after having kept his distance while the other's fought. Stopping in front of the oldest General, he looked to him questioningly. The look on the General's face was grim as he looked straight at Komui, sorrow in his eyes.

"I believe the end to this war is upon us. But the question we must ask ourselves now is when."

_Author's Note: Hope this chapter was decent. I wasn't sure how Cyril's character acts, so sorry if some of you do know and if he was OOC. This fic isn't coming to an end like some of you may think, it's just that the final war is drawing near. Oh, and for NoahofDesire, if I am correct, and I believe I am, Hitler wasn't around at that time but I felt like making a reference anyways. I couldn't leave something like that out or go to waste. Please Review._


	22. Please forgive me

Ch. 22: Please forgive me

Awareness was slow to come back to Allen as his senses were coming back in small waves. First smell, then hearing, then touch, and last came sight. Opening his eyes slowly, aware that the lights above him would cause him momentary blindness in both eyes, his sight began adjusting to compensate the momentary flood of light that had assaulted him un-ruthlessly. Once sight was with him, he didn't need to turn his head to further his idea at where he was, the white ceiling being proof enough. He was in the infirmiry.

His back felt like he had been run over by a horse drawn cart, as if wooden wheels had slowly and painfully rolled across his back just to make him wish for it to end faster. That was then that he remembered that they had been attack by Noah. But how long ago was that? Blinking as he tried to figure that mystery out on his own, he slowly began to sit up, a wave of unrelenting pain washing across his lower chest and right shoulder. His head began to spin for a moment, an un-controlling urge to vomit from the dizziness almost winning as he kept one hand covering his mouth. Keeping his eyes tight shut at that point, he slowly opened them once more as the sensation began to ebb away.

Keeping in mind to not make such quick movements all at once, he began running his hand down the unbutton shirt on his back, his hands stopping when he felt the cottony substance of bandages that had been wrapped around his wound. Allowing his hand to linger there for a moment, he moved it up and across as he followed the trail of bandages that led to his opposite shoulder. Linger at the spot for a moment as well, he slowly moved his hand up to his head, delicately resting on the bandage that had been wrapped around his head as well. That had only been to see if his theory had been correct, so he let his arm drop limply to his side, staring up ahead for a while as he became hypnotized by the lack of color in the place.

A knock from the door drove him out of his staring, his attention switching to the door as it slowly opened outward, revealing the form of Lenalee as she peered into the room. Noticing it was her, he beamed at her, showing that he wanted her to come in and to not linger at the door. Seeing that he was awake, she slowly walked out of the shadows, revealing the wounds she carrying. And upon seeing her fully in the light, his smiling face began to morph into one of astonishment and shock. Bandages had been wrapped tightly around all of her fingers, a soft cottony patch over her right eye as it concealed the swollen bruise that was keeping her eye shut. A stream of bandages could be seen wrapped around her left arm, a few peeking above the collar of her shirt, creating the likelihood that she had some wrapped around her chest.

Her stride was confident though, making her way towards him like nothing was wrong with her. But her eyes betrayed her, showing the sadness and shame that she was keeping hidden from her face. Her mouth was thin lipped, not even gracing him with one of her radiating and contagious smiles. She sat down at the edge of his bed, only giving him a profile view of her features, ones that showed that she was fighting the urge to even look at him as she kept her head downcast. She appeared to be in deep thought, her hands resting on her lap as they slightly trembled from the residual pain that continued to linger no matter how tight the bandages had been wrapped.

Was she mad at him? The question was beginning to plague him as they sat there in awkward and unending silence, Lenalee not even giving him the time of day to look at him in the face. His mouth was a gaped in confusion before he closed his mouth upon realizing that was only keeping a ridiculous look on his face, eyebrows slightly knitted forward in sadness that accompanied the frown on his face. He had to find out what was wrong.

Not giving a damn about the dizziness or the pain that flooded his senses whenever he moved, he made his way cautiously to her side. After going through agonizing seconds of moving, he sat down next to her, looking to see if anything changed in her features. Finding none, to his disappointment, he brought his gaze down to her still trembling hands. They looked like they were causing her a great deal of pain. So being naïve to the whole reason why she was acting this way, he began asking her the stupid question while moving to pick up her hands into his.

"Are you-"

He stopped in mid-sentence as she jerked her hands away from his, shifting her body to hide the fact that tears were threatening to pour down her face. Her shoulders were shaking from the desire to cry while forcing herself not to. Allen was at a lost of words, having not expected a reaction quite like that one. Looking at her back with sorrow filled eyes, knowing that he must have said or did something that had made her angry at him, he moved a hand to touch her shoulder. His face was filled with earnest as he tried to dissect the situation he was in and why she was showing all this hostility towards him.

"Lenalee, please talk to me. Please look at me. Did I do something to you? Did I hurt you? Please Lenalee, just tell me what's wrong and if you're ok. That's all that-"

A loud noise filled the room, bouncing off the walls as it seemingly seem to intensify with each passing second. He had been cut short once again, only this time, he had been slapped across the face. The force of the slap had jerked his head to the side, causing him needing to support himself with his arm to keep himself falling back to the bed. His eyes were wide in shock and amazement as the stinging sensation continued to linger on cheek, feeling the surface begin to heat up as time went by slowly.

Lenalee continued to keep her hand stretched out where his face had once been, her eyes veiled behind her ebony bangs. Tears could be seen streaming down her face as they silently fell to the bed, wetting the once dry fabric. Taking a chance and facing her again with still shocked filled eyes, he looked straight at her while she brought back her hand. The hand that she had used to slap him was shaking terribly now, Lenalee attempting to stifle her cries of the pain that slapping him with broken fingers had caused her by gritting her teeth as she kept covered by the other hand against her chest.

"Don't you dare say that my safety is all that matters, because it's not! You're also a part of this relationship as well, not matter how you might think otherwise. I can't continue to just stand there while you take the punches for me. I'm not some weak little girl anymore! Why can't you see that Allen?!!"

She was sobbing by now, discarding the façade she had on for him earlier. Her comment had felt like a dagger to his heart as it slowly began to sink in. He didn't even know when it started but he found himself shedding silent tears as they continued to sit there while they both cried. So this was why she was mad at him. She didn't like it when he selflessly came to her rescue, taking all the attacks for himself. He had never given it seconds thought about what his friends might feel when he did take the attack and he paid costly for it instead of themselves. He had never thought they cared like that until now.

Now he felt like the lowest being on the planet. How could he forget that she worried about him just as much as he worried about her whenever one of them got hurt? How could he not see that she blamed herself whenever he got hurt just like he did when she got hurt? Some boyfriend he was.

Letting out a sad filled sigh, he moved closer to her with new found resolve. Taking no regard that she was trying to push him away, still upset with him, he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her into a gentle and warm embrace. Resting his head on hers, he wouldn't budge no matter how much she tried to break free.

"Please forgive me, my beautiful butterfly. I do what I do because I don't want you to get hurt. If something were to happen to you…I don't know what I'd do. I wouldn't be able to live without you if I lost you because of my carelessness. I do it to protect you from the evils that continue to plague us, no matter how much I wish it otherwise. That's why I keep my guard up and take the attack for you. It was only till now that I realized that you feel that way too. I didn't mean to hurt you the way I did Lenalee. Just please, if you hate me or don't love me anymore, at least forgive me. Please…"

Tears were falling harder down his face at the thought of Lenalee not loving him anymore. The thought was too much to bear. He wanted her to understand why he did this and that he wouldn't do it intentionally anymore. She continued to sob, leaving Allen to believe that she was tossing aside everything he had just said. Just when he was about to pull back from the embrace, he could barely make out what she was saying through her sobs.

"Baka, I could never hate my caring and handsome clown forever. And I will always love you until the end of time. Just like our song says."

Though she continued to cry, she had now allowed herself to becoming enveloped in the embrace. With her face pressed against his chest, tears began sliding down the bare flesh. This caused him to redouble his hold around her, keeping her pressed to him as he allowed himself to break down. Crying almost as hard as her, he buried his face into her hair as his tears began wetting her soft hair. At least now they were on the same page.

*&*

The sun was sinking in the horizon, illuminating the sky in calming oranges and soft pinks. The scene was breath taking, incomparable to it's the one before it but one that would be forgotten easily by tomorrows. But they would stick in the moment, stay with each other as they witnessed the fabulous phenomenon that only occurred once a day.

Allen and Lenalee stared out into the horizon, the wind pulling their hair here and there. She stood in front of him, leaning into him while he kept his arms wrapped around her waist. He kept his chin resting on one of her shoulders with a smile on his face. Both allowed their eyes to slowly close in contentment at the feel of the last rays on their faces. If only they could just wash all their troubles and worries away and live a life together in peace. But fate and destiny had other plans for them.

_Author's Note: I know the ending to this chapter is kind of crappy so forgive me. I couldn't think of anything else to put without diving into another chapter. I'll try to update again before the end of this week, hopefully. Anyone an Adam Lambert fan? His album came out yesterday for all of those who are, including myself. I love his voice!!!! Any way, before I go all fan girl here, please review. _


	23. Was that?

Ch. 23: Was that…

It had been a couple of weeks since the attack at the Order by the two Noah. Things had finally returned to a somewhat normal atmosphere, all combatants practically fully healed from their last endeavor save for Lenalee. Some of her fingers were still broken but weren't causing her as much pain as they initially started out with. But nonetheless, even though Komui was against it, Lenalee and Allen were preparing to leave the Order like they had initially planned on doing before the whole Noah incident.

Both stood patiently in front of the Chief's desk, waiting for him to hand them each three fragments of the innocence that they would be taking with them. It took much persuasion on General Tiedoll's part, who had been waiting outside Komui's office for the three of them to go under way, to convince Komui to let them go and that Lenalee would be fine. And a waterfall of tears and wailing later, the three Generals were setting off, the two youngest waving to all their friends that were still bounded to following orders from the Chief instead of free range like Generals.

Once they had become out of range of the Order, Allen and Lenalee turned back to looking forward, excitement filling them from the new change of orders that varied greatly compared to the other exorcists. Their job was long but simple, travel around the world in search of accommodators. Of coarse that that was the over all main duty of Generals but it didn't limit them from not taking down any akuma that may attack or helping out on missions from nearby exorcists in the area. And they still had the right to return to the Order at any given time if they so choose to or they were bringing back a new exorcist to HQ. Plus, they could be assigned missions too difficult for the other exorcists by the higher ups, the highest ranking generals that had all but retired due to older age.

After a couple of hours walking, they decided to take a little break. All of them sitting on the grass, Allen laid on his back as he gazed up at the cloud filled sky. Tiedoll sat cross legged as he began drawing, not much of a surprise to the other two. Lenalee sat not too far away from Allen, smiling at the face he was making as he continued to lay there as his stomach growled. The thought of food was causing drool to roll down his face, his eyes closing as he indulged himself in a fantasy pertaining to food.

Turning to the bag that had been made for her to carry innocence fragments, Lenalee dug through it for a moment before pulling out a shiny red apple. Balancing it on her palm while keeping her fingers not quite wrapped around the glossy surface, she tossed it to the side for Allen. With his eyes still closed, he lifted up one hand from behind his head and caught the fruit effortlessly before taking a bite out of it. As he continued to devour his snack, Lenalee dug into her bag some more until she found yet another apple and walked over to the still drawing General.

"Here General, I have an apple if you want one."

The former artist took a momentary pause from his work before placing the drawing to the side and thanking her for the thoughtfulness while taking the apple into his hand. As he ate away at his own apple, Lenalee couldn't help but take a peek at what the General was drawing. It was of a bird's-eye-view of the three of them, Allen laying on his back as he stared up at the sky, Tiedoll seen drawing away, and her sitting in the middle while having her head turned to Allen. The accuracy was breath taking; how he managed to still capture every detail all with the smaller proportions was astounding. It was almost as good, if not better, than a photograph.

"Wow…how are you able to do that without actually looking from that angle?"

Tiedoll stopped in mid bite before giving her a fatherly smile. While he was out training his apprentices, Marie had been the only one to truly take an interest in his art. Kanda almost did once, that is, until he drew a picture of the apprentice striking a huge smile that looked like it just didn't belong their no matter what, earning a bunch of laughs from the other two apprentices. Since then, no matter how much he tried to apologize and prove that he would never do it again, Kanda took no interest in his so called 'useless doodles'. But that never stopped him from drawing and showing Kanda the final product. The ones he drew of Kanda when he was younger he kept to himself in journals he kept in his room.

"It took a lot of practice and experience. I don't usually draw in this angle but I felt like doing it anyway. I use to draw a lot while on my travels with my apprentices. All of them liked them more or less, Marie liking them the most and Daisya the least. Kanda use to like them as well when he was younger but I drew something that must have offended him. I don't know why, it was such a good picture if you ask me."

"What did you draw?" asked Lenalee, curious about what it could be that caused Kanda to hate his Master's drawings the way he did. She personally thought they were amazing.

"I drew a picture of him smiling. And not just one with the rare grin he has sometimes but one with a radiating smile, one that, in his words, 'wouldn't be caught dead seeing, not even if he was happy on his happiest day'."

"Kanda actually gets happy? I just thought the scowl on his face was a universal emotion that played the part as all of his emotions." Inquired Allen, who had caught interest in the conversation at the mention of Kanda smiling and being happy, a rarity that rivaled that of the chance of anyone discovering a dodo bird.

"That's what he said. He was still a kid back then so I didn't really believe he would actually stay true to his word. I guess he just stopped taking an interest in drawing after hearing all the laughs coming from Marie and Daisya. It must have hurt his ego and personality but nonetheless, I shall continue showing him my drawings. Maybe that little tantrum fit from back then will go away and his interest will spark again. Who knows, Kanda could become a painter if he set his mind to it."

"Kanda letting go of a grudge, that just as likely as hell freezing over. I can see it now, Kanda standing in front of a white canvas with a paint brush and some paint, going at it like it was some akuma or something, a big beret on his head as paint splashes on his face in his heated frenzy. And in the end, it turns out to be a work of art. Me and Lavi with our heads chopped off with him standing over us in a bloody triumph. That would surely become an instant Master Piece that shall be titled: A samurai's oh so sweet revenge."

Lenalee was struggling to hold back giggles as Allen continued to lay on his back with his eyes closed in contentment, much rather preferring to not see the General's reaction, his intention being nothing more than a meaningless joke rather than a offence. Lavi would have been proud of him if he were there now, rolling on the ground in the grass like a mindless idiot. But he was caught off guard when he heard the deep laughter coming from the former artist. Opening his eyes and sitting up, he watched as the older man continued to laugh at Allen's crack at Kanda.

"I can see that possible happening, but it wouldn't become a Master Piece, it would become a classic instead."

Seeing that General Tiedoll was willing to play along, all of them laughing their heads off. That lasted for a while before Tiedoll became serious once more, picking up his sketch book and placing it back in his bag. Getting back up onto his feet, he began dusting himself off before looking to the others to show that it was time for them to be on their way once more. Getting up off the ground as well, both of them dusted themselves off before they nodded to Tiedoll that they were ready and that he may begin walking. They still had a long way to go if they wanted to make it to the nearest town before night fall.

*&*

A couple of days had passed until they came across a city. They had stayed in a village a couple of nights before, having camped out last night. The place was bustling with activity, signaling for the three of them to stay alert for any possible accommodators and prepared for any possible akuma attacks.

"Seeing as how we have a large area to cover, I think it would be better if we all split up. We shall meet up again just before night fall at the inn near the fountain in the middle of this city. Does that sound like a plan?"

Allen and Lenalee nodded before rushing off in opposite directions, Allen going to the right while Lenalee went left. That left Tiedoll with the only option of going straight, so that's what he did. All three were now separate and spread out, scoping the area for anything interesting or peculiar.

*&*

It had been a couple of hours since the three of them split up and Allen was getting no where. There wasn't anything strange or the mention of anyone acting different. It was pretty much all good on his part. But one thing was bugging him though. He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched and followed. He just didn't know by what or who. It couldn't be an akuma otherwise his eye would have activated. So if it wasn't that, then what was it? It could be a Noah but what were the chances of them coincidentally running into one another. Almost next to nothing.

Turning the corner of an alley, he stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps from above snap something. Freezing, he waited for a moment before reacting within a split second as he began hastily scaling the building. Whoever it was that had been following him had since turned around and was high tailing it out of there. Having earned a head start, Allen managed to get on the rooftop before breaking into a run in pursuit of the stalker like person.

Judging by the over all build of the person, it was safe to assume that it was male and possible someone older than him due to the height difference that could visible be seen. The person was wearing a cloak with the hood up to hide any distinctive features. But whoever it was, they were fast. Allen was having a hard time staying pace with the person or even gaining any distance between them but he wasn't going to give up so easily. He wanted to find out who this person was, seeing as how it had been the only excitement in a while.

Leaping over the edge of the roof, the mystery person grabbed hold of a clothes line, snapping it from his added weight and sending him swinging forward. Allen didn't have to resort to that as he activated Crown Clown and propelled himself forward towards the other building's roof. This had bought him some decrease of distance between them, as the person barely had time to pull himself up by the time Allen had made it to the other side. With the added use of his innocence, he was closing in on his pursuit, now just an arms length away by the time they almost reached the edge of that roof.

The sound of a train from below rang through the air, signaling that a train was coming. He hadn't realized that train tracks ran across the side of the city he was at. Coming to the end of line of rooftops, the hooded person stopped reluctantly, his face veiled in shadows while he continued to look between the prospect of being caught by Allen or making the jump down to the train. Keeping his back to the open space behind him and facing Allen, he gave him a cheeky smile with arms spread out before falling backwards towards the train. Allen could only gap as he tried to snag a hold of something, anything. He managed to grab hold of some fabric around the person's neck but that tore off from the cloth as a whole.

With arm still outstretched, fist clenched over the piece of fabric still in his hand, he looked down in amazement as the person landed on the roof of the train. Landing on the metal surface easily, he pulled back the hood to reveal who he was now that he was safely away from the General. Orange hair rushing from the unstopping rush of wind, the person slowly stood up, his head turned slightly towards Allen who had frozen. Sticking out his tongue playfully as he did a mock salute toward the stun General.

No, it couldn't be. His eyes were just messing with him. That couldn't be who he thought it was. Looking back up while getting out of his thoughts, he strained to see the person once more, who had all but dwindled from his sight. Switching back to the piece of fabric that still laid in his clenched hand, he hesitantly opened, hoping against hope that it would prove that his theory was correct. Eyes slowly sliding down to the clothe, his eyes widen for a moment before he shot straight up, the fabric falling out of his hands as he cupped them around his mouth before he yelled out into the distance in hopes he would be heard by the individual. The fabric landed forgotten to the ground, its red color clashing harshly with the dark gray and dirt ridden rooftop. The color matched perfectly with that of a certain rabbit's scarf the last time he had seen him.

"LAVI!!!!"

_Author's Note: Might be the last chapter for this week, haven't decided yet. Hope you all have a good Thanksgiving on Thursday. I can't wait to have some turkey right about now. Hope you like this added little spice to this chapter, please review._


	24. Tag

Ch. 24: Tag

The sky was beginning to darken as the effects of night began setting in. General Tiedoll and General Lee stood in front of the only fountain in the whole city, still waiting for General Walker to return. It was later than they had all planned to regroup and Lenalee was starting to get worried. It wasn't like Allen to be late and she was starting to fear the worst. What if he was hurt and he couldn't move to reach them? What if...what if he had been ambushed by some Noah while they had him alone and...and they killed him?!

Not knowing what was keeping him so long was causing fear to wash over her, and that fear was causing anxiety to build up. Pacing back and forth in front of the fountain, she couldn't stop herself from thinking the worst, images of his mangled form dancing across her mind's eye. She had become so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't realized that the General with her was trying to get her to stop by calling out her name. But she took no notice of it and continued her worried pace, unstopping and undetering. It was only when he placed a hand on her shoulder did she stop and agknowledge his presence with worried filled eyes.

"I'll go get us some rooms. Why don't you go see if you can find Allen in the time being, it might put your fears to rest."

She wasn't given much time to reply before he began walking away and to the inn they would be staying out for the night. Biting her lower lip for a moment as she watched her fellow comrade walk away, she turned around suddenly at the sudden sound of something move about in one of the nearby alleys. Straining her eyes into the looming shadows that dwell within the alley, she hesitantly began walking forward, cautious if it was a trap of some sort by getting ready to activate her innocence in any given moment.

Stepping into the entrance of the hidden maze that laid within the surrounding buildings, usually going unnoticed and unused, she took lite steps to insure that stealth was at least on her side. Once consumed in the shadows of the alley way, she stood there for a moment, finding that it was probably just her paranoia playing with her mind, making her think she had heard something within the recesses of the alley. Letting out both a sigh of relief and defeat out, she turned to make her way out but froze when she was confronted with the form of someone standing right in front of her, head veiled behind a hood.

Not sure of what she should do in a situation like this, seeing as how she couldn't tell if it was one of the Noah and the possibility of it being an akuma weren't that big since it would've saved her the trouble of having her figure it out, so she turned to run. But the stranger had planned this for he had quickly made for her and caught her before she had the chance to escape with the use of her innocence. Spinning around so that now she was facing the entrance of the alley way, the mystery person clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep her from screaming. Forget about screaming, seeing as how his hand was covering her mouth, a new idea came to mind.

As the stranger tried to get her to stop struggling, she opened her mouth and bit down hard on the palm of his hand, not caring much for the fact that the person's hand was covered by fingerless gloves. He must have felt it nonetheless because his hand and arm stiffened as he tried to dismiss the intensifying growth of pain when she bit him harder.

"Sheesh, I'm starting to think that being all mysterious with you two isn't one of my better ideas."

Hearing his voice made her jaw slacken, guilt for biting the mysterious person after realizing who it was in the first place setting in. His hand still covered over her mouth though, hindering her from greeting her friend. They stood there in silence for a moment before he pulled out a letter and displayed it to her before her eyes. Waving it in front of her face in a sign to take it, she slowly motioned to grab it, not aware that he had pulled back his hand. Now in her hands, she stared down at the white paper that carried a letter within it. It had been addressed to both her and Allen in quick hand writing. Looking it over, she could tell that the envelope had been opened a few times, leading her to believe that there was more than just one letter in there.

Remembering who it had come from, she turned back around to find him gone, like he had vanished out of thin air. Gaping at his sudden and unnoticed exit, she began searching along the roof tops and even going as far as searching somewhat in the alley way. But she couldn't find no trace or tail of her friend, as if he had never even been there in the first place. But he had been there, she reminded herself. And that proof had been the letter he had left with her. Bowing her head in defeat, she drove back the tears that were longing to be shed before returning back to what she had initially set out to do. But before leaving the alley way, she took one last look at the empty and musky space, running away when she still couldn't see him.

They would cross paths again in the future, and hopefully, not in a manor like this. When they all would reunite with their answer seeking friend without hiding the truth of who they really were. They would see Lavi again.

*&*

Allen sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, his head burrowed down against them. He had begun feeling worthless and useless again after encountering Lavi without even realizing it until the very end. Why couldn't Lavi show who he was to him instead of making him chase after him like he was a criminal or something like that? Why did Lavi have to act mysterious instead of just simply walking up to him like the best friends they were? Why did he have to run? Why didn't he give him a chance to say goodbye the very least before dashing away the way he did?!

If he had just been a little faster, if he had only realized he was being followed sooner, he could've at least held a conversation with him before he departed once more. But he hadn't been fast enough and hadn't figured out he was being followed until the very end. And look where that left him, sitting dejectedly on the roof top of the building he had encountered Lavi, the only token of him ever being there being a piece torn off his scarf. If he had been more dedicated to catching him, he wouldn't be sitting here feeling sorry for himself.

As he continued to wallow in his own self pity, Lenalee had managed to find him after flying over the city in an attempt to get a better view of the surroundings. Landing effortlessly beside him, she crouched down to his level and gave one of his hands a gentle squeeze. She could only guess why he was acting this way.

"Allen, it's ok to be upset. You saw Lavi didn't you?"

He lifted his head from off his knees, his sadden eyes pearing at her for a moment before going back to resting his chin on his knees. She was assuming that that was a yes.

"I saw him too. He didn't say much but he gave me a letter for the two of us. I haven't read it yet because I wanted us to do it together."

"At least he came out and showed you who he was. All I got was a chase and then him jumping onto a train before he showed me who he was." mumbled Allen, growing more and more upset that Lavi had been more frank with her than with him. That only added more distress to his strengthening yet still fragile state of mind.

"I didn't know it was him until he told me that he probably shouldn't act all mysterious with us. He was probably only doing it because he wanted to have some fun or something. He's Lavi, remember. Besides, if it helps, I bit him when I thought he was just one of those sick creeps that hide in the alley ways."

He continued to look straight ahead, unwilling to meet he eyes again. He was still mad at Lavi and much rather keep it to himself. His uncooperative state of being silent instead of vocal was starting to upset her. She was here to listen to all his troubles, to be someone for him to talk to and he was just sitting there and shutting her out.

"I understand you're upset Allen, I know you're beating yourself up because you were the one that suggested that Lavi should leave, but, you're going to have to get over it sooner or later. Lavi didn't **have** to come up to us, he didn't **have** to give us this letter, but he did. He did it because he wanted to. He's not ready to come home yet, he's still searching for who he is and maybe he's getting somewhere, maybe he doesn't have the slightest clue on where to begin. But at least he took the time to see us, however little that visit had been.

"So you can sit here, feeling sorry for yourself, or you can come back with me to the inn and read this letter together. It's your choice."

Allen sat there for a moment, contemplating on what he should and wanted to do. Should he sit here or should he go with Lenalee? Noticing that she was beginning to walk away, he slowly got to his feet, wavering for a moment once he realized that he had made her upset by being upset with himself. How much more pitiful could he get? Not much. Running up beside her, he apologized for his unruly behavior and how he had acted like a big jerk to her earlier. She accepted the apology but reminded him that it was ok to be upset as long as it doesn't influence his actions.

He was getting better at getting out of his bouts of depression and anger, his break downs becoming less severe and less often than in the beginning. As long as he was getting better, he would eventually fully heal. Walking side by side, Allen was in silence as he looked at the ground in shame. He stayed like that until he felt her hand caress his cheek and a quick peck to his nose made him turn to Lenalee, who had jumped in front of him, walking backwards in a playful gesture.

"Cheer up, everything is better now. So quit your moping and have some fun." She smiled deviously at him for a moment before shooting forward and pecking him once more on his cheek. Keeping her face inches away from his, she whispered into his ear, "Tag, you're it."

And before he had time to digest the words, she began running off, leaving him dumbstruck for a moment before she stopped a few feet away when she realized that he wasn't chasing her. Giving him a playful pout, she yelled back at him again that he was it and that he had to chase her. That was how tag worked. Realization finally dawning on him as he got what she had said earlier, he feined confusion and then an impassive disguise that caused her to return to him disappointed that that hadn't cheered him up. But she was caught off guard when he swiftly grabbed her arm, pulled her towards him and kissed her full on the lips before breaking apart and laughing as he began running from her, yelling all the while that she was it.

Stunned from being caught off guard, she gave an amused smile before running after him, activating her innocence to gain on him after his cheated lead. Which fell quickly with her added speed. Hovering slightly off the ground, she propelled herself to his side and kissed his cheek to show that he was it. Smiling at him, she shot forward faster, leaving Allen to struggle to keep up while he was still bounded to the ground when she had the skies to cover.

"Hey! No fair! Who said anything about using innocence here?!"

She stopped just out of his reach, mock thinking for a moment before concluding, "I did." And with that, she was gone once more, leaving Allen to sigh in defeat before activating his innocence and using Crown Belt as an attempt to move if not a little faster in order to keep up. How was he suppose to catch her if she was as fast as sound? Never, that's how. That's why it made it all the more fun.

_Author's Note: Sorry it's short, please review_


	25. Innocence

Ch. 25: Innocence

Allen and Lenalee finally managed to make it back to the inn, taking a few detours along the way. Both were out of breath and incapable of chasing the other any longer so it ended up being left as a draw for now. Leaning tiredly against one of Allen's broader shoulders, Lenalee sighed in exhaustion as they entered the inn's lobby, finding General Tiedoll waiting patiently for their return while occupying himself in drawing random scribbles. Noticing them instantly, he put away his sketch pad in his bag and walked up to them, a hand digging in one of his pockets as he began searching for something.

"I'm glad to find that you two safe and hadn't been harmed in any way I presume. I have placed us with some rooms but it appears that were only two available rooms at the moment. I know it isn't my right to pry but, I would much rather prefer it that Allen shares a room with me while Lenalee has her own. And I know you two are young adults and are currently engaged in a relationship but do keep in mind that we are technically always on a mission and we must leave as soon as we can. I suggest that you two weren't to get more, what's the right word, intimate with each other while we still have other factors to keep into consideration, at least, while I'm tagged along with you."

Both could only stand and stare in silence, their faces blazing red at how easy their fellow General was being with them. He was basically telling them to not have sex while he was around. The very thought was mind numbing, Allen trying with the utmost difficultly not to think of Lenalee without anything on. But sadly, or happily, well, more like confusingly, the images wouldn't go away, causing the blush to become beating red as it crept down further his neck and ears. How could he let himself think such dirty and perverted thoughts, especially when his girlfriend was standing right next to him? Thankfully she was too stunned to notice that his blush had intensified, mouth slightly a gaped as his words began to sink in.

Either way, both were too speechless to say anything further, Tiedoll not the least bit nervous yet anxious all the same. He had just wanted them to know what he felt while he was around with them, especially when it came to night time. Last couple of places required that they all stay in the same room or space, but here, here they had the liberty of separate rooms. And in this case, there were only two rooms that were vacant at the moment.

"I'm not trying to reprimand you two or anything, it's just, I would rather have it separate for now. I understand it completely if you have already done it and you feel like you must to do it again tonight, but I'm sure you can control your raging hormones for just a few weeks. If you were married, I wouldn't hold it against you if you wanted to share a room. In fact, I'd be all for it, but you two are still young with unpredictable hormones and impulses that it would be better that we stick with the current plan."

Ok, that's it, they had enough of having to hear their equivalent comrade to try and convince them to sleep in separate rooms. They got the picture and really much rather have been told that they had to sleep in different rooms and leave it at that. But he just had to prove to them something that they were willing to accept and go with. They were still virgins for God's sake. The thought about losing their virginities to each other was appealing but they were by no means, ready to do anything like that yet. Especially if they had a another General accompanying them in their travels.

Just when it looked like General Tiedoll was going to try to convince yet again about the issue, Allen immediately grabbed the pair of keys that dangled in his hand. Frustratingly handing one to Lenalee, he gripped the remaining one in his hand as he watched Lenalee make a mad dash for it. Turning back to the practically astonished Tiedoll, he looked at his feet as he went to address the older man with a shaky voice.

"I wouldn't have complained if you requested that we slept in different rooms. You didn't have to add all the other details in there. Me and Lenalee are not currently at the point where you seem to believe we are. I'll go drop my stuff in our room and then maybe we can get some dinner. See then, maybe."

Still staring at his feet, Allen hastily walked away, struggling against the fact that he really wanted to run rather than walk. That left Tiedoll alone once again, left to puzzle over the matter as he scratched his head.

"Was it something I said?"

*&*

As planned, Allen met up with Lenalee at the dinning hall of the place, Tiedoll having politely refused in saying that he had already ate. Both were sitting in a booth as the distressed waitress, after taking down Allen's monstrous order, shuffled nervously away. Sitting across from each other, both sat in quiet silence, not knowing what to say when they felt equally as comfortable sitting in silence. But a sudden remembrance caused Lenalee to perk up for a moment before digging in her pocket. Watching her in puzzlement, his confusion was answered as she pulled at a letter and sliding to the center of the table. It had been the letter Lavi had given her.

"Well…should we open it?"

Allen gave a curt nod as she took it back and began to remove the multiple folded pieces of paper inside. There was still one more thing left inside. Dumping the envelope of it's remaining contents, a silver and nearly bland bracelet fell out, a single charm dangling on it. Forgetting about the letters for a moment, Lenalee placed them back on the table as she went to inspect the bracelet further. Seeing as how she was preoccupied by the bracelet for a moment, Allen took up to reading the letters out loud.

_Dear Allen and Lenalee,_

_ Forgive me for not sending you any letters for a while. Things have been sort of hectic and chaotic at the moment. Right now, I'm currently second guessing myself if whether or not I should have even left the Order. I know I will return but I don't want to be gone for too long. I would never initially abandon the people I care about just because I can't get my priorities straight. But enough with my moaning, how have you two been? Me you ask? Well, I'm good and dandy, a little cold but good all the same. I haven't found the answer I've been looking for yet but hopefully I'll find it real soon. With each passing day, I get closer and closer to my answer. But maybe I'm trying too hard, maybe the answer is with me all along. What if this is all for nothing? Ah, hell, who knows. It was fun anyways, albeit lonely, and I'm grateful that you were willing to just let me go Allen, even if it's a mindless and pointless journey. I hope I see you two soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Lavi_

_Dear Allen and Lenalee,_

_ As I write this, I am currently in the same city as you two are. I just got back from running away from Allen. Man, it took you long enough to realize who I was. It only took me to practically pull down my hood in order for you to see that it was me. I notice that you two were ranked General. Congratulations you two! I'm so proud, my little kids are growing up-sobs-, moving on. Sorry Allen to cut are little meeting short but I didn't want to stay so long and only have it make me want to stay. But I still have a goal to follow and I have to stick with it. But on the bright side, I think I've found the answer so I may return home sooner than you think. I haven't caught up to Lenalee yet to give her these letters and her gift but there's still time I guess. That's a charm bracelet that I felt suit you. I added a charm that represents me, it's a book. You can add on more so that it doesn't look so bare. It reminded me of how you thought of everyone as a piece of your world. At least now you can show it to people. Hope you like it. See you two real soon._

_Best regards and happy early birthday Lenalee,_

_Lavi_

After having finished the two letters, Allen looked up to see Lenalee looking at her gift with tear filled eyes, unable to control the tears of happiness from streaming down her face. She was feeling so overwhelmed with appreciation, she couldn't control herself from crying, grateful that Lavi had remembered that her birthday was coming up. He didn't have to do that but he did.

Allen gave her a tender smile before sliding his hand under the table and grasping her hand within his. Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he gave her a warm smile as she struggled to wipe away her tears. Her order along with a minimal portion of his was coming to their table, causing her to quicken her speed in trying to hide the tears that had once been on her face. With some food on their table, it helped distract their minds off their friend for a moment. But just as they were beginning to indulge themselves in some of their foods, an innocence fragment left inside one of Allen's pouches was beginning to react.

_Author's Note: Sorry if its kind of short in the since that it only is this one part. School has been keeping me busy lately so I couldn't update when I wanted to. Please review._


	26. Darkness

Ch. 26: Darkness

Immediately Allen disregarded his dinner and shot up out of his chair un-expectantly, looking around frantically in search of the person the innocence fragment was reacting to. And unsurprisingly, his eye activated, telling him that akuma were drawing near. Noticing the activation of his eye, Lenalee also shot up from her chair, activating her Dark Boots in anticipation as Allen began frantically searching for the person. Suddenly, the whole right wall exploded, signaling that the akuma had arrived.

Upraising dust and smoke, pieces of rubble flailing everywhere in the once peaceful and tranquil dining room, the battle was preparing to begin. Activating his innocence in turn, Allen quickened his already frantic search, finding it quite difficult when all hell was breaking lose and people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Lenalee stood on the defensive while facing the gaping and smoking hole in the wall, waiting for the akuma to come flooding in. But as the smoke began clearing, her readied stance relaxed when she found nothing waiting to come attack them so that they could retrieve their innocence.

Puzzled by this, she pondered over it until she came onto a realization. Spinning on her heel, she scanned the crowds of people in search of Allen, desperate to share with him what she had figured out. Finding that difficult, she propelled herself above the crowd, using her vantage point to help her in her search for the white-haired General. When that didn't help, she resorted to simply shouting out her realization.

"Allen, the wall was a decoy. The akuma have to be somewhere-"

She was cut off as a level three akuma came barreling at her out of no where. But Allen had understood what she had meant so he became wary about the people around him. The faulty ambush soon uncovered itself as more and more akuma leaked into the room from the hole not that they had been figured out. Fighting the urge to turn back and fight along side his love, the need to find the accommodator was strong. But he'd be damned if something were to happen to Lenalee.

Jumping over fallen chairs and tables, he pushed past the crowd and began following the steadily growing glow of the innocence fragment, showing that the new exorcist was near. Noticing an onslaught of akuma approaching his destination, Allen brought out the Sword of Exorcism and began chopping down all the level 2s and 1s that stood in his way. Suddenly, all the remaining akuma began retreating, drawing out of the hole they had once used as an entrance. What was going on? It was as if they were…being called back.

Un-expectedly, a Noah stepped into the scene, a playful grin on his face as he looked at the two of them and then at the approaching form of General Tiedoll. Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, he waited for the exorcists to make the first move. But finding that all they would do was stare at them wide eyed, he looked at them puzzled until a light bulb seemed to light up in his head.

"Where are my manners. The name is Fiddler and I will be the one to fight with you all."

"Just one Noah. He doesn't look all that tough."

"Hey, you shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." said the offended Noah as his arms began changing color to that of midnight black. Flexing his fingers, he looked back up at the still waiting exorcists. Still grinning, he shrugged his shoulders and spread out his arms to either side of his body. Darkness erupted from his arms, expanding out to all around them. General Tiedoll froze and turned to Allen.

"Allen, you must find the accommodator fast. He mustn't get to them before you do. We'll stall him as long as we can."

Allen nodded and began running futilely from the darkness. But the darkness was everywhere and inevitable as it consumed everything in its path in it's shadowy prison. Night vision activating on his half mask, Allen began searching for the missing person, using the innocence fragment as a guide. Mean while, Tiedoll and Lenalee kept close to each other as they waited nervously for the Noah to strike. But the waiting was nerve-breaking as every little sound made them reel around in the darkness. Suddenly, a hand shot out from behind, their weak spot and grabbed hold of General Tiedoll's ankle.

Pulling back, the clueless General fell to the ground, nearly dropping his own innocence as he was dragged away from Lenalee and into the darkness that surrounded them. Spinning around, Lenalee was beginning to feel dizzy and light headed at the unchanging darkness. Closing her eyes, she began concentrating in order to discern where Tiedoll and Fiddler were at and fighting. But the darkness also seemed like sound blocker for she couldn't hear anything from where she stood.

Heart rate quickening, Lenalee found that the only way to find anyone was to walk into the darkness itself instead of standing in her one spot of secluded light. Taking in a deep breath, she ran with eyes closed out into the darkness. She hoped that what she was doing wasn't all for nothing.

*&*

The innocence fragment was glowing as bright as ever, signaling that the accommodator was surely near. Running around the huge room, his anxiety and fear rising the longer his surroundings continued to remain in darkness. Suddenly, he heard the sound of coughing which immediately caused his body to freeze. Listening for a second, he heard the coughing again and turned to the direction of the sound. Thanks to his night vision, he was able to discern the form of a trembling young woman, the waitress that had taken their orders.

Running towards her, he froze when he noticed that she was cringing back from him, her face full of hysterics as she tried to get away from him. He could understand her fear. Who wouldn't be afraid of someone coming from the darkness, carrying a huge sword that could easily slice her in half if he willed it. But he needed to get her out of here and then back to the battle field. Bringing back his Sword of Exorcism to his left arm, he hesitantly began making his way towards her. Hopefully she would listen to him.

*&*

Lenalee was at her limit in fear. Everywhere she looked she was assaulted with nothing but darkness. Every time she thought she had heard Fiddler and Tiedoll, it would always prove false. She needed the strength that came with being in light but how could she find it if there was nothing but darkness around her. As her mind began tumbling in turmoil, she had missed the fact that an arm was approaching her from behind until it was too late. Gripping her ankle, she looked down in shock before trying to fly away. But the grip was strong even though the flesh was burning from the contact of her innocence and he pulled her down easily and away from where she once stood.

Squirming around in desperation to get freed, she looked back into the darkness fearfully as a demented face formed in the darkness. Eyes widening in surprise, she fought the scream that wanted to come from the sight of something so demonic and malevolent. He wasn't the once grinning Noah like before. Closing her eyes, her fear was about to consume her when a sudden sense of security and warmth washed over her. This sensation felt familiar. The Heart was coming to her aid once more.

*&*

Crouching to her level, he gave her a gentle smile that he hoped she could see. Maybe she did for she stopped trying to move away from him and instead, chose to stare at him teary eyed and confused. Scratching the back of his head, he thought about what to say first until she was the one to begin the talking.

"You're that young man with the tremendous order that left the chiefs in amazement."

"Yeah, that was me. My name is Allen. What's yours?"

"Katherine. Katie for short."

"Alright Katie, I'm here to rescue you but I need to give you something first."

Nodding her head, she watched as he revealed what laid hidden within his clenched fist. A glowing green light spurred up once noticing that it had found it's match. Power dissolving down to particles, it shot towards Katie who had become fearful once more. Floating before her, it stayed like that until the shape began growing and elongating as it reverted to a more practical and rougher form of normal equipment type weapon. Having closed her eyes, she slowly cracked them open once the light slowly began dying down.

Hovering before her was strange looking scythe who's handle seemed to forged from old musty iron, the blade engraved with intricate symbols and inscriptions. She stared at it wide eyed and curious, not truly believing what she was seeing. Seeing her amazement made this all the more easier, making him hope that she would agree to go with him unlike what others would do. Waiting for her to grab it, he sat patiently until he felt his innocence seem to twitch. Ignoring it, he watched as she outstretched a shaking hand and grabbed hold of the handle. The symbols lighting up white at her touch, she slowly got to her feet and began swinging the weapon around, her movements suggesting that she was practiced in the way of a weapon.

Standing up with her, he felt his innocence twitch once more. Clutching his arm, he noticed that it appeared to be deteriorate away. Confused at first, he soon realized what could be happening and quickly turned his back to Katie as a sudden burst of light penetrated through the darkness. Katie stepped beside him, curious about what was going on, feeling a sense of security when standing beside the younger man. Noticing his left arm trembling, the claws retracting as it revert to its dormant form, she looked at it fearfully until moving up to his face, which should the complete opposite of what she had expected. He was smiling as he continued to watch something from where they stood. Following his gaze, she stood amazed at the young woman who was basking in light.

Her normally ebony hair was tainted by that of a single white streak, a half of a masquerade mask covering the left side of her face. A bellowing cape flowed behind her, a fur collar wrapped around her neck. Her innocence reverted to looking more clownish than usual as she floated in the air. With face masked behind a cover of impassiveness, her single showing eye opened to reveal a silver iris instead of a violet. Grabbing a side of the cape, she pulled it around her in one swift movement, the darkness eradicating from the sudden sweep of light. Revealing where Fiddler hid with Tiedoll now fighting him, Lenalee dove right at him, kicking him in the chest.

"Who is that Allen?"

"That's Lenalee, my girlfriend and the one that had been sitting with me before this madness began."

"Oh I see now, I couldn't tell from the way she looks right now."

Both watched as Lenalee and Tiedoll continued fighting Fiddler with their sudden upper hand. When Katie went back to looking at Allen to see if his arm was any different, she gaped at what she saw. His arm was beginning to fade away as the innocence became a cloud of particles. Allen had also noticed this by the time it almost completely disappeared. Staring at it in confusion and fear, he watched what was once his innocence stream over to Lenalee. Once to her, it began solidifying, first forming the blade then handle of his Sword of Exorcism.

"Allen, what happened to your arm?!"

"It's the sword over there with Lenalee. She must have tapped into the full power of the Heart and used my innocence to aid them."

"The Heart?"

"Yeah…it's kind of a long story. But I'll be sure to tell you when we make it back to the Order. That is, if you're willing to become an exorcist."

She looked to him then back down at the scythe in her grasp. Thinking it over, she gave him a nod and went back to watching the seen as she began thinking about how becoming an exorcist may be dangerous but it would defeat the predictability of her days that was starting to bother her. Allen smiled in relief as he too went back to watching now that he was unable to part take in the battle without his innocence.

*&*

With Sword of Exorcism in hand, Lenalee began swinging swiftly at the Noah, forcing him to move back from the blows and be assaulted by some make shift drawings from Tiedoll's innocence. All in all, it was a check mate and there was only one option left. Sighing, he jumped out of the way and began running towards the gaping hole. But Lenalee was unwilling to let him go so easily. Charging after him, she allowed the power to control her actions as she charged at him foolishly. Leaping into the air, she was about to strike him down with Allen's sword when a sudden feeling of pain wracked her body.

Relieved that he had managed to escape unscathed, Fiddler disappeared into the night as Lenalee fell helplessly to the ground. Her innocence was tightening around her legs, pain erupting from it. But instead of screaming in pain, she laid there on her side, her body too tired and too weak to care about the pain. Using Allen's innocence to the fullest had drained her energy and had forced innocence to work double time than it normally would, pain still coming regardless whether she was past sync rate of that to become a General.

Staring absent mindedly at nothing in particular, she allowed her body the much need rest and sent back the added power that she had token from Allen. She could here the rush of footsteps and the call of her name before everything blacked out on her. All she wanted to do now was sleep.

Skidding to her side, Allen brought back his left arm and scooped Lenalee into his arms. Making sure she was ok, he straightened up with her in his arms and turned back to General Tiedoll and Katie. Noticing the fearful look in the newest exorcist's eyes, Allen gave her a smile and a nod telling her that she was ok. Smiling in turn she introduce who she was to the other General and soon enough the four of them were on the road, on their way back to headquarters without waiting for morning to come. If they had been attacked there, then there was no telling when they would be attacked again in the same city. It was better to just leave now then to stay like open targets. Besides, they needed to take Katie to the Order as soon as they could. With any luck they would make it back without any trouble.

_Author's Note: Sorry about the late update and the poor quality of this chapter_


	27. Tragic Smile

Ch. 27: Tragic Smile

It took a couple of days but they finally made it back to the Order without any incident. That came as a surprise to everyone seeing as how they had been attacked while on the mission like that. But hey, they weren't complaining. It made the trip easier and almost faster. As the Black Order came into view, Lenalee could visible be seen brightening up, a smile coming onto her face as she started running to headquarters. The others hung back, allowing the young woman to have a moment of happiness for reaching their home. Smiling, they all watched as she ran without the use of her innocence, wanting to reach the looming building on her own.

Making it to the front gate, they quickly opened up to reveal Komui walking out with a coffee mug in hand, intending to take a little stroll outside when he noticed his beloved sister running in the distance. Smiling, he forgot all about his coffee mug as he dropped it to the ground and rushed to her, over flowing with joy. Upon making it to her, he embraced her with the normal amount of intensity he would hug her, sweeping her off her feet and twirling her round, which caused the both of them to laugh in their happiness. Even if they had only been away from each other for no more than a couple of weeks, that didn't take the enjoyment out of seeing each other's face again.

The other three reached them shortly after, all having smile on their faces as they arrived. But even though the little reunion was technically over, Komui was still twirling Lenalee around with the adoring look still on his face and eyes. He was oblivious to the fact that Lenalee had all but lost the enjoyment of this and was beginning to wish that she would be let go now. Katie stared at the two puzzled, looking to Allen in hopes that he would provide an answer. He turned to her and laughed at her expression before answering her unspoken question.

"That's Chief Komui Lee, he's in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly while we're here and assigns us to missions whenever he sees fit. He's also Lenalee's older brother. But if you ask me, he's a little of an overprotective man that likes to cling to Lenalee for dear life." stated Allen, the last part he whispered into her ear in fear of being over heard by the man who was in fact the brother of the girl he was dating. Katie got the point real quickly and decided that it would feel less awkward if she were to leave. Gripping her scythe, she turned to walk through the gate when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Turning, she looked up in surprise at the older man that was smiling down at her.

"You can easily get lost in such a large establishment such at the Black Order. But don't worry, I'll take you to the Science Department to have you innocence and sync rate examined. Ok?" said Komui, after noticing that a new comrade had been added to the lines. She nodded and waited as Komui exchanged a few words with General Tiedoll until he was the one leading her away. Komui hung back for a moment, the smile still on his face until she had turned her back to them. His grin slowly switched to that to seriousness, a hint of his enthusiasm still lingering.

"I would just like to congratulate you General Walker, you did a good job convincing her to come join us, or so I'm told. Not bad for you first time. But since you are still fairly young and apprentices usually are given when a general finds an accommodator compatible with their given innocence, I think we can make an exception. We'll assign her to the Klaud unit instead. I hope there aren't any problems with that." said Komui as he fixed his glasses so that they sat on his nose correctly. He turned to Allen and waited for him to answer, causing him to become nervous and stutter. He had never thought that he would already be given apprentices when he found accommodators out in the field. But Komui's proposition seemed better seeing as how he was still just a young exorcist recently made General, just like Lenalee. It would be better if they gained some more experience before they took on pupils of their own.

"That's fine, it'd probably be better if Katie had a more experienced General as her master any ways." answered Allen, finally finding the right words to answer the older man with. Komui nodded before entering the order himself, trying to catch up with Tiedoll and Katie. But before he had vanished completely, he turned to the two remaining exorcists.

"I understand if you have to go soon. Just promise me you won't be gone too terribly long. Your objective still stands, so if you want to go back to finding accommodators than you best be on your way. Good luck." stated Komui as the entrance began closing, soon blocking their view of him. Stunned by his statement, they lowered their heads in disappointment before turning around and going on their way to another location, anywhere really. This was a first for Komui ever sending Lenalee off like she was just like the other exorcists and not her sister. Maybe Reever spiked his coffee or something.

"You know that was very odd of him. Wouldn't he have been begging you to stay instead of letting you go like that? Especially when you're alone with me." asked Allen as the two of them began walking back the way they came. Lenalee was also puzzled by it too, finding this sudden change of character very strange.

*&*

"Oh their back, so where are Allen and Lenalee Chief Komui?" asked Reever as he looked up from his clipboard and into Komui's face. Komui took a moment to answer, a linger of doubt in his face as he thought of the right words to say without bursting out into tears.

"I sent them back out there to continue searching for more accommodators. They won't be joining us for a while." said Komui through gritted teeth.

"Really? I figured you'd want to keep them here for a while, especially since this is Lenalee were talking about, who's now alone with Allen. What made you change your mind?" asked Reever, shocked by this new change in behavior.

"Why do you sound surprised? Lenalee is a young woman now and she's with a dependable young man that wouldn't let anything happen to her. I see that now." answered Komui, a pained look on his face after having actually said the thing he had been denying in his heart ever since they had gotten together. He knew Allen was the one, the one that do anything for his sister just to see her smile. He wouldn't dare hurt her unintentionally.

"But if he so much as make her upset, it's off with his head!!!" added Komui, an evil glint in his eyes as he began plotting possible scenarios that involved Allen pleading for his life to him. Just thinking about it lifted his spirits. This caused Reever to sweat drop before going back down to jotting down notes on his clipboard, rushing away from the scene as fast as he could when Komui started laughing to himself. A laughter that suggested that he wasn't up to something all that good or innocent.

*&*

"What do you think we should do now?" asked Allen as the two of them began setting up camp for the night, a fire already blazing before them. The thought of having to spend even more nights sleeping by a camp fire didn't really appeal to Allen that much to say the least. But he guessed he couldn't complain. It was his duty and besides. He was actually alone with Lenalee for the first time for weeks. Smiling devilishly, he looked to her out of the corner of his eye, studying her expressions as she began thinking.

'_God she looks cute when she's thinking really hard.'_ thought Allen, a tender smile replacing his devious one from before. He took a seat beside her, looking at her for a moment as she continued her train of thought. After a few moments, she looked to him and offered,

"Well we could start making ourselves something to eat."

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea. But, I don't think we have that much food left and I'm so hungry." replied Allen, his head and shoulders sagging as his stomach began growling, as if on command. Lenalee chuckled and pulled the bag containing supplies over to her so that she could see what remained. A few loafs of bread, some berries and other fruits and vegetables, and a couple pounds of dried meat. Not exactly a feast like Allen was use to but it should do nonetheless. Forging a makeshift rotisserie out of some gathered sticks, she began cooking the remainder of the meat, making it into something that wasn't really special. Just some cooked meat left un-spiced and unseasoned. But it was food. Besides, Allen was too hungry to be picky about his dinner.

The sat beside each other in acknowledged silence, staring at the roaring fire as it began cooking their 'dinner'. It took about a half hour to cook but no one was complaining. Well, besides Allen's stomach that is. As soon as it had finished, he was quick to receive his share, scoffing done a helping that would be considered a side dish to his normally large intake of food. Finishing in a few bites, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and turned to Lenalee, eyeing her share of the cooked meat. Having watched him practically swallow his half while she had only so much as had a couple of bites of hers, she had quickly lost her appetite. Pushing it away, she looked away from Allen as his mouth began salivating over the unfinished cooked meat.

"Say, are you going to finish that?" asked Allen hopefully while pointing to Lenalee's share. The eager and hungry look he was giving the food suggested that he wanted it badly. Sighing, she gave it to him willingly, earning her a look that resembled a little child getting a puppy for Christmas. At least he was happy. Eating it as fast as he had with the previous one, he waited for Lenalee to finish brewing up some tea so that they might have something to wash the food down. It was finished in a matter of minutes, Lenalee pouring them each a cup full of tea made from grounded berries.

Holding it in their hands, the steam swirling around their mouths and noses as they took a sip of the simple tea. Another moment of daunting silence, the only noises coming from the surrounding nature and the cracking fire. It wasn't like they detested the silence, they just wished that they could have something to talk about. Life had begun returning steadily normal, considering that they were exorcists after all, not two days were the same. But what went on in those days had started to normal out, usually consisting of traveling and fighting anything that needed to be fought. Hopes of a little excitement never hurt them.

As night further darken the black sky, the two thought it would be best to get some rest, possibly even trying to get an early start on their travels. Sharing their good nights, the two soon fell asleep in two separate sleeping bags. Allen was sleeping rather soundly, his mind at eased and was quick to fall into good and rejuvenating sleep. Lenalee on the other hand was steady beginning to become plagued with nightmares that shuck her to the core, causing her to toss and turn in her fit full sleep.

*&*

_She stood on a battle field, clouds of smoke everywhere as they obscured her view of everything out in the distance. The ground was covered in upturned snow, the result of people having fought on such terrain. Looking to and fro in confusion, she began walking out into the smoke. Upon entering, she heard all of her friend's calls and screams as they fought for their lives against akuma and the Noah family. She watched as Krory was thrown back by Jasdero, an arm hanging broken and useless at his side as he slid on the ground. _

_Try as she might, every time she tried to yell and call out his name, he wouldn't answer. Soon enough she discovered that when she tried to restrain him, he simply passed through her, like she wasn't even there. Startled by this fact and discovery, she began running away and further into the heat of the battle. Just passing all sorts of people, trying so desperately to stop whatever was going on, she yelled out in frustration and fear as she watched the mangled form of Miranda fall to the ground dead._

_Fear and panic running through her, she stared wide-eyed in shock, beginning to feel sick from the way Miranda's body twisted in abnormal angles, her lifeless eyes staring vacantly at where she stood. Holding back the tears, she pressed on, running as fast as she could until she came upon a most dreadful scene. Separated from the current turmoil that erupted around her fought the Earl and Allen, both a bloody mess._

_Allen leaning against his mighty sword was having some difficulty standing, his body pouring out vast amounts of blood. Breathing heavily, he barely dodged a swing of the Earl's sword, and even that he suffered a long gash to his arm. In that moment of invasion, the Earl had been able to knock Allen down to the ground, his sword knocked away from him. He tried calling it back but the effort was too strenuous, especially when he was having trouble performing the simple act of raising his head._

_Unable to watch any longer, Lenalee came running to his side, part of her mind well aware of the fact that she wouldn't be able to help him. Nor would she be able to save him. But the other half believed that she could, that she shouldn't just stand there and watch him get killed. She had to do something. She called out his name as she drew closer, trying to make to him in time. But seemed like time was holding her back because even though she was using her innocence, she still wasn't going fast enough. Nor was she making any big progress in reaching them. In vain, she called out his name, her desperation winning over her rationality. _

"_ALLEN!!!!"_

_ Once she had said his name, she froze in shock. He had stopped what he had been doing to look at her, his head moving forward so that he could see her from behind. At first, they simply stared, the Earl getting ready to plunge his sword through Allen, his face betraying his true insane personality. As their mortal enemy began steadying his hands in a now down thrust as they held the sword, Allen gave her a cheerful smile that didn't fit the situation. _

"_Don't worry, I'm ok. This fight will end with the next generation. It'll be better that way. Thanks for trying to save me." said Allen, a smile still on his face, even as the Millennium Earl's sword went right into him, eerily unchanging. A burst of blood shot out from the wound, splattering onto his face as he continued to give her that damn smile like it was suppose to reassure her. It wasn't in the slightest. Reaching him suddenly, she fell to his side, shattered to find that he was already dead with the smile on his face. This wasn't right. This isn't how it was suppose to end. The roles should be in reverse, where the Earl was the one laying in a pool of his own blood and not Allen. _

"_Now my dear, I believe it's your turn now." stated the Earl, catching Lenalee's teary eyed attention. As she turned her head, she suddenly found herself blacking out, her body going numb. The only think she could hear now was the sound of her own name ringing out in the darkness that encompassed her._

*&*

"Lenalee! Lenalee! LENALEE!!!" yelled Allen as he began shaking her smaller framed body awake. As soon as he had woke her up completely, he let out a sigh of relief until he found himself embraced by a crying Lenalee. Stunned for a moment, he quickly recovered and held her tighter, stroking her hair in reassurance.

"It was only a nightmare, your safe now. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." stated Allen, partially to reassure himself. But she suddenly pulled away from him, causing him to look at her in surprise.

"Nothing happened to me that's making me upset in the first place. It was because of what happened to you that's making me cry." she sobbed as she went back to embracing him, clinging onto him like there was no tomorrow.

"I can't shake the images of you lying helplessly in your own blood. And that awful smile that you gave me before you were killed. A smile that still lingered on your face even after you were already dead. I can't make those images go away. I can't make it stop!" continued Lenalee as her body became raked with sobs, her tears staining Allen's shirt. Seeing her in so much distress was causing himself pain. He didn't like to see her upset, especially when he was involved in it. Holding her closer, he continued rocking her back and forth until she suddenly looked up at him, staring into his silver eyes before slowly kissing him. Unsure at first, he regardless kissed her back before she pulled away suddenly. He looked to her in question, wondering why she had pulled away.

"Please don't leave me tonight. I want to sleep with you. To be with you." hinted Lenalee, Allen slowly catching what you meant by it. If that was what she wanted to do, then he would happily and gladly provide. It began with a few exchange of kisses before they got caught up in the heat of passion. There was no going back after this. What happened tonight was a first for the two of them.

_Author's Note: Sorry for the momentary hiatus and the sort of ooc Komui in this chapter. And I'm sure you know what the two of them are doing. Sorry guys but no lemons here, only subtle hints towards it. Please Review._


	28. Saving Souls of the Past

Ch. 28: Saving Souls of the Past

Allen found himself woken up suddenly for some unknown reason. Eyes shooting open, he took a moment to have them slowly adjust to the sudden onslaught of light. Sighing after realizing, or at least he thought, that what had happened last night was merely a dream. A dream that made him blush madly just for thinking about it. But something didn't feel right. Why couldn't he get up and why was this weight on him? Then it dawned on him. Hard.

Shifting his gaze slowly, he looked to see Lenalee resting on top of him, shifting around in her sleep before slowly resting back down with her cheek rubbing against his chest slowly and momentarily. His bare chest. And that was when he realized that Lenalee wasn't exactly wearing anything either, along with himself as realization further sank in. All he could do was gap soundlessly, his face so that red that it would make even a tomato jealous. It was all he could do from yelling out in shock and heightened fear, and too his surprise pleasure, at what had happened last night.

'_So it really wasn't a dream…damn, I'm screwed if Komui, no, when Komui finds out. Knowing him, he probably has some sort of sixth sense alerting him of what happened last night. Dear God, please have mercy on my poor soul.' _thought Allen, the horror of the situation sinking in. It wasn't like he hadn't enjoyed it, believe me, he had. But the thought of having signed his own death sentence by crossing into forbidden territory by having done something that was sexual for the first time, especially with her, blocked out all other thoughts that may have aroused. His first instinct was to put his clothes back on as fast as he could but then he realized that he had one little problem. Seeing as how Lenalee was still asleep and laying on him, any sudden and harsh movement would surely wake her up.

Now he was torn between his fear and the fact that the love of his life seemed to be pleasantly fine with the current arrangements. Sighing nervously, he allowed Lenalee to continue sleeping, seeing as how it was still grey out in the sky, but kept his body stiff, afraid of getting carried away if he were to relax. The situation wasn't exactly a favorable one, especially if you had a lunatic man that wanted to kill you if you so much as looked at his beloved younger sister. But hey, he couldn't regret the decision that they had wordlessly agreed upon that night. He loved her very much, no other person having ever induced such happiness, not even Mana. And that was all that mattered. He'd get through this somehow in some way.

Keeping the blanket over their bodies, Allen laid there anxiously, not knowing what to do to kill time. But soon changed when he continued feeling Lenalee stir around, signs showing that she was going to wake up soon. Panic began growing, his senses hyperaware of every insignificant move she made, afraid of discovering her reaction to remembering what had happened last night. But he was going to burst if she got mad at him. It was in fact her idea to begin with.

The moment of truth slowly arose, Lenalee's eyes slowly fluttering open. They quickly met his, wide eyed and staring, confusion written in her violet irises as she silently questioned their closeness. But it soon dawned on her, a blush creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks as she looked away in embarrassment but a smile on her face said quite the opposite. Slowly pulling the blanket that had accompanied Allen's sleeping bag, she used it to wrap around herself as she moved off of him, leaving the one that had covered them both on Allen.

At first, an awkward silence fell in-between them, neither of their blushes receding in intensity as they kept replaying the previous night's events in their heads. Eyes looking at everything but each other, they slowly began recovering their clothes, creating separate piles in silence. But soon after, neither good withstand the pressure created from the silence any longer, turning to each other in newly found determination to speak to other until they met each face to face. They would instantly freeze up, causing them both to turn away to as they tried to recompose themselves. The only way they could do that was to put their clothes back on, Allen nor Lenalee feeling comfortable enough to talk about last night without at least having some clothes on. Once fully dressed, they took steady breaths before trying once again, this time with a little more composure. And by little, I mean not that much.

"So…we did it…last night…" said Lenalee nervously, stumbling over her words as she looked to her feet. She knew that if she looked at him, all her confidence would simply melt away.

"Your…your not mad? I mean, I did take away the one thing that you can never get back." said Allen equally as nervously, his voice at a whisper even though no one could possibly ease drop on them while they were in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, he was afraid of how Lenalee might answer him, afraid and little hurt if she had felt any sudden regret over what happened. Because he certainly didn't. She noticed the look of uncertainty and out of place disappointment that was on his face, a tender smile coming onto her face as she moved closer to him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I know the consequences for what we did but I don't care. I love you. And I know you love me as well. You proved that last night." reassured Lenalee as she grasped his hand into hers, calling forth his attention back to her. Looking up at her, he couldn't help but smile, reassured by the smile she was giving him. As long she wasn't regretting it then neither would he. But there was still one problem that remained.

"Now that we got that out of the way, all I have to say is that, it was nice knowing you Lenalee. I don't think I'll see you again after your brother is through with me." stated Allen dryly as a sudden shudder rolled up his body. He could already feel it, the sudden awareness creeping up in her brother, his sixth sense going haywire as it alerted him that his sister was no longer pure. He could picture it now. Komui would be asleep at his desk, oblivious for a moment before his head would shoot up suddenly, a look of horror on his face. Holding the look, he would begin flailing his arms around and beginning sobbing about something pertaining to Lenalee. Then those eyes pouring with tears would suddenly blaze with internal fire, a look that suggested evil intent was forming. And then something dread full happened. He somehow found where Allen was hiding and was now chasing him with an army of komurin sent after him, none of them matching the pace Komui was in. And for some reason, a garden of maneaters were sprouting everywhere, all intent on having him for dessert. Honest to God, the whole daydream was just an utter nightmare.

"Don't worry about my brother Allen, I'll make sure he doesn't kill you. Not after having discovered another side of you after last night." teased Lenalee, laughing at the surprised expression that had washed onto his face. He guessed that she actually enjoyed what went on last night, which pleased him. Shaking perverted thoughts aside, he squeezed Lenalee's hand and slowly rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.

"Come on, we probably should get going. We've got a lot of distance to cover before we make it to the next town." Said Allen, stretching his arms before retrieving everything else that they had brought with them while Lenalee made sure the fire was still out. It didn't take long before they were on the road again, both walking very close to each other. Though having woken uncertain about it at first, the two exorcists never felt any closer, regardless of the fact that having the heart bound them together in destiny. But not when it came to love.

*&*

The Earl sat frustrated in his study, upset that his tactics weren't working out as well as he thought they would. But his army of akuma was steadily growing in both numbers and strength, which wasn't a complete bad thing. Both sides weren't at a distinct advantage but the fact that the Order had still managed to fend off two attacks from his children was upsetting. Why were the humans so persisted to fight them just so that they could live such short and messily lives?

"You wished to see us Lord Millennium?" stated Tyki questioningly, not really willing to throw himself into battle unless he had to. Or it was fun. Beside him was his brother Cyril, looking equally as disdainful and perplexed. His last run in with the Order nearly got him killed.

"I want you to attack the King directly in this game of chess. Like I've said with the other attacks, don't kill him or his Queen. We want to give them at least a fighting chance when the time comes. But don't hold back. I want them to suffer just as much as I have." answered the Earl as he continued studying the chess board hovering before him, neither side having taken the others soldiers. But that could be arranged.

"I'm sorry if I sound a little unwilling of the sorts but isn't there someone else suited for this job. You know she's wanted to see Allen again for a very long time." hinted Tyki, trying to subtly convince the Earl to let his niece come join the fun. The Earl noticed this and waved it off.

"I've got bigger plans for her later. Can't throw my pieces around haphazardly now can I?" said the Earl with a cheeky look on his face as he began chuckling to himself. This caused the two Noah before him to sweat drop and both think the same thing simultaneously. _'Then what does he call it when he's sending us against Walker?!'_

"And one more thing, make sure that you prevent them from journeying any further and destroy any innocence they might have. If your even luckier than you'll dispose of their innocence as well but I don't see that happening." added the Earl, still staring at the chess board.

Nonetheless, they didn't object and bowed to their master before setting off to the coordinates the Earl had given them that revealed the location of the white-haired General. Little did any of them know, someone had been listening to the conversation, a sadistic smile creeping up their face as they silently followed the other two Noah. She wasn't going to miss out seeing her Allen again.

*&*

They walked continuously hand in hand, going wherever the road took them, grateful to the fact that they didn't have to worry about anyone but themselves for the time being. No Komui, no akuma, and no Noah. Just the two of them going about their duties as Generals while still enjoying themselves. It didn't kill them to have a break along the way now and then.

By late afternoon, the sky filled in golden colors displaying the time of twilight, they had decided to make camp for the night when a rustle in the distance caught their attention. Stopping, Allen was the first to advance, cautious of what they might find. Taking soft steps, he pushed back a bush they had heard the sound behind and discovered, to their perplexity, that there was nothing. Puzzled, they relaxed until they heard the sound of dry laughter coming from behind.

Out of instinct, Allen pushed Lenalee slightly behind him as soon as he noticed her fear. Standing now in front of was Tyki Mikk and Cyril Kamelot. Both Noah gave them a smirk, Cyril giving the two a curt bow while Tyki tossed his top hat aside before cracking his knuckles.

"It's nice to see you again boy, I haven't seen your face for quite some time. Well, ever since that filthy excuse for a Noah had you under his control. How is he anyway, the 14th?" asked Tyki casually as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, puffing out a plume of smoke in boredom. Cyril continued staring at Lenalee, his eyes cold and jovial. How could he forget such a pretty face such as hers.

Meanwhile Allen was seething with anger, part of which that wasn't his own. Though the 14th wasn't plaguing him or always there as his shadow, he could still feel bits and pieces of him. It probably had to do with the fact he had sacrificed himself to save him which in turn, handed over all that was himself over to Allen. It would explain why he had been contacted by him a couple of months back in his dream. So with that in mind, Allen wasn't as wary about feeling his presence like he had been before.

But this feeling was much stronger than that of the previous times. All he could do from yelling out in protest was clenching his teeth and cover his face with a hand. This spiked the two Noah's, both of them straightening up as their gazes fell to Allen. This change also caught Lenalee's attention, although she was much more worried than their two enemies. _'What do you think you're doing?!' asked Allen, his mind a storm of thoughts. It took a moment before the 14__th__ answered him, albeit, very distantly and vaguely. 'You expect me to just stand here and let them talk trash about me. Besides, I'm not taking you over like last time. Think of it as a sort of gift that I'm giving to you.' answered the 14__th__, disappearing from the little space of conscious he took up in Allen's mind after words._

The pain disappeared suddenly, knowledge of what to do replacing it. Straightening back up, he lowered his hand from his face and looked to the two Noah smugly. This brought surprise into their faces, both of them getting into battle stances after seeing the way he was looking at them.

"He's just fine thank you. He sends his love to his brothers and is sorry he couldn't be here today. But don't worry, I assure you that you'll be fine settling with me instead." replied Allen finally, a new found strength seeping into him. An aura surrounded him, calling forth the white cowl to elongate, his innocence reverting to its clawed state. As the white light increased, his right arm began changing, the white sleeve changing to look like his left arm with the exception of the colors inverting. The faintest of waves could be seen in his hair, most of it remaining its straight self.

Slowly the aura died down, revealing the transformation that had occurred. While his left eye remained the regular silver, his right eye had change to look more gold than silver, hinting at the power that the 14th had passed onto him in the moment of sacrifice. He turned his head to Lenalee, a smile on his face to show that he was still himself and not the 14th. Worry ebbing away, she activated her innocence and stood her ground beside him, ready to attack at any moment. The two Noah brothers got into battle stances as well, waiting for the other side to attack.

"Pathetic Noah, giving some of his power to the enemy now that he's truly gone instead of his family." shouted Tyki as he began the attack, Cyril following shortly after. Blocking a high kick from Tyki, Allen's eyes narrowed as he grabbed his leg and flung him to the other side. Glaring at Tyki, he look to his right arm before clenching it as much as he could.

"You're wrong. He did give it to his family. Because he gave it to me!" yelled Allen as he charged once more, finally accepting the fact that he was related to a Noah. He would use his uncle's power wisely when it came to destroying the two Noah. Seeing their souls put to rest like his own was one of the few remaining wishes the 14th had. They were in fact still his few and only friends. They had been his friends during his stay with the Earl, the three of them getting along well together. And when he had betrayed the Earl, the two of them had been the last to truly track him down. The last to show restraint in killing one of their own. It was the least he could do by saving their souls. He owed them that much.

_Author's Note: Please Review._


	29. Faithful Run In

Ch. 29: Faithful Run In

Allen and Tyki weaved in and out of attacks, spinning past punches and kicks. Neither one had landed a solid blow, both trying to get at the other while they swerved out of the way. It looked more like a dance rather than a battle, frustrating Allen more than it was Tyki. The longer he could dodge the attacks, the better. He never liked dirtying his hands unless he had to or gained from it. He was only fighting him because his master had ordered him to, otherwise he wouldn't be holding back as much as he was.

With this elusive behavior, anger began filling Allen, frustrated at Tyki's actions. Taking another chance to slash out, Allen feigned another swing to the left, Tyki easily falling for it after having believed that all that was going to happen was swing and dodge. Delivering a swift roundhouse kick to his abdomen, Allen took the opportunity to grab him by the arm and toss him at a nearby tree. Thinking ahead, Tyki used his power as the "Pleasure" of Noah and passed right through the tree, skidding across the forest floor as soon as he landed on his feet.

Growling in frustration, he was caught off guard when Cyril came ramming into him after having Lenalee throw him away from her but accidently at Allen. Both falling to the ground, the two switched the fight so that Allen was now tackling Cyril and Lenalee was having a go at Tyki. Rolling around on the ground, the two of them tried to over the other or pin them to the ground but neither tactics seemed to be anyone's favor. But soon Cyril had the upper hand; he suddenly grabbed both sides of Allen's head, tapping into his telekinetic power. Instantly thoughts and feelings came rushing into him, images shifting through his head so fast that it made him scream out in pain.

'_I want you to kill that exorcist girl.'_ instructed Cyril through his thoughts, pressing the simple command onto Allen forcibly. Convulsing around on the ground, he tried fighting the orders, loosely punching around at anything, hoping it would keep him fighting the orders. But every passing second came the reinforced orders, ones that he was trying so desperately to fight against. Continuously punching randomly, he felt a knee swiftly jab him in the gut from Cyril, guessing that he had managed to punch him in his flailing. That one move broke his concentration, destroying any fortitude he had once had over the situation, his mind easing into the control Cyril had over him.

As Lenalee sent down a high kick at Tyki, Allen jumped at her, wrapping one of his clawed hands around her throat as the two of them slammed into a tree. Tyki stood confused for a second before turning to face his brother, silently asking his question with his eyes. Cyril stared back at him before giving him a malicious grin, tapping his head to show his brother that he was controlling Allen. If he were to speak, he would break the concentration and the control he had over him would be severed. Tyki understood quickly, smiling to himself as he turned back to watching the two exorcist fight each other, one holding back while the other was giving it their all.

Choking behind Allen's tightening grip around her neck, she tried to get him to snap out of it, which was hardly any use. Bringing back his left arm, ready to thrust it through her chest did Lenalee begin fighting back. Grabbing a hold of his arm in time, she tightened her hold around his wrist before kneeing him where it hurt, which caused him to instantly let go of her and fall to the ground, clutching his groin in pain. With him temporarily out of the way, Lenalee dove at the two Noah, trying to stay out of Cyril's grasp, still afraid of his power of breaking bones simply with a touch. What she should have been more afraid of was the telekinetic power that had Allen under his spell.

Landing to the ground, she moved at an accelerated speed, insuring her safety and improving her power. Both Noahs were barely able to move out of the, most of the kicks hitting their mark. But sooner than she had expected, Allen was in the game, not caring of the damage she would bring to him rather than following his orders. Frustrated and overwhelmed at the now constant struggle to not hurt him, her speed slowed down and her attacks lessened. Her mind focusing on not hurting him, she had let her guard down on the two Noah. Taking this to their advantage, they instinctively began fighting back, the three of them soon overpowering her.

With a stream of teeze shooting at her and grazing past her body, she fell exhausted to the ground, multiple cuts scattered across her body. Struggling to get back up, she quickly rolled out of the way of another downward punch from Allen. Forcing herself into the air once more, she shot up into the sky, using the trees as a way to confuse her attackers. Sticking to a higher up branch, she slumped down against the bark, panting as she tried to recompose herself. What was wrong with Allen, why was he fighting her? Her first thoughts went to the 14th but chose to believe that Allen hadn't been lying to her when he said that the 14th was gone. So if it wasn't that, then what else could it be?

She never got another chance to think her own question over as an agonizing pain erupted from her collar bone to her right shoulder. Shockingly looking down to that part of her body, she was greeted with the sight of three candles protruding her body, the tips soaked from her blood. She was confused by this, having thought that it had only been Cyril and Tyki until a sadistic and twisted laugh echoed behind her.

"My my, it seems like you've been doing dirty things with my Allen. I think it's time to put you into your place." Stated Road as she suddenly appeared from behind, driving another candle through her left shoulder blade, dangerously close to where her heart laid. Falling off the tree limb, she fell like a broken angel after having lost its wings. Sliding across the forest floor, she winced in pain, a cold sweat coming over her as she laid there in utter ruin. Road came calmly walking over to her, her walking slow and stalking, taking her sweet time in messing with Lenalee's anxiety. Allen was soon to join her, his silver and gold eyes blank and unexpressive, his face blank as he stalked closer.

To tired to move, all she could do was look up at him with fear in her eyes, the sound of her beating heart feeling her eardrums. He brought out the sword of exorcism, his right hand smoking slightly from the rejection of Noah against Innocence. Lifting it up, he held it ready to strike, Road gushing all over him as she began intertwining herself with him. Doing every possible thing to upset Lenalee, she looked in anger and disbelief, her tolerance for Road taking advantage of Allen in this state crossing the line.

"Allen, please snap out of it. It's me, Lenalee, your girlfriend. I'm not your enemy." pleaded Lenalee, desperation showing in her voice as she fought back tears. How could she be reduced to such a pitiful state? His expression didn't change, his face still impassive. He held his sword up high, taking in Lenalee's fear before something seemed to click in his head. Already bringing the sword down, he had it set to slice through her head before he changed the course with the twist of his wrist. Striking the ground beside her head, he leaned heavily on the weapon, the realization of his actions hitting him dead on. Two emotions stuck out from all the rest in his confusion. Sorrow and Anger.

Noticing the sudden change, Road stepped back in confusion, shocked that he had somehow broken away from Cyril's control. Same as with Lenalee, although hers was more of relief than anything. Sighing, she slipped into unconsciousness, unable to remain awake any longer. As Allen kept his back to Road, Tyki and Cyril soon joining her, his body trembling somewhat before he slowly straightened up. Cocking his head over his shoulder, the intense glare that he gave them caused them all to flinch, his anger nearly tangible. His hair began spiking up further, pieces of it dyeing black to contrast the white. Breathing rather heavily, he turned his body towards them, armored boots running \up his legs. Half of his mask came up to his face, the opposite side of his face bare for a moment before the other half came together, fitting together like a puzzle piece.

White cowl blowing behind him, it for the briefest of moments seemed like a pair of angelic wings before it changed back to the cowl. An armor chest plate covered his chest, the designs resembling that of music notes and gothic crosses. Another piece of the musician's paced on power. Pulling the sword from the ground, Allen charged at the three, giving them no fair warning besides his sudden burst of speed. Throwing the sword rapidly at Tyki, he frantically moved out of the way, bewilderment on his face. Slashing out at Cyril, he sent a heavy kick to Road, his new advantage of flight making his already flexible body bend in different angles faster than if he were still bounded to the ground. Moving faster than he thought was possible, he grabbing Cyril by the collar of his shirt and held him up, his face showing all of his anger towards the Noah, tears sliding down his face.

"You damn bastards! You think you can just get away with trying to control me like that?! To command me to kill the one person who means the world to me! I'm going to kill you all for this!!" bellowed Allen as he threw Cyril to the ground as hard as he could, a crater forming underneath him as he pressed a foot down hard on his chest. Growling, he ignored the tightening pain around his legs and up his chest, his arms feeling like they were crawling around. Part of his mind knew the strain was going to overwhelm him soon but he at least wanted to get as much damage he could get before he was brought down to his knees. Calling forth the sword of exorcism, he leaped out of the newly made crater and struck out Road. Ignoring the stabbing pain of several candles sent at him, protruding different spots of his body, he leapt into the air and brought a downward swing onto Road.

Stopping the slice half way down her left shoulder before changing the direction and swinging to the slide, and L-shaped wound now visible. Staring wide eyed at the wound, some blood ran down the side of her mouth as she feel spasmodically to the floor, body twitching as the white crosses streaked across her body. Enraged by this, Tyki allowed himself to sink into his true Noah form, his image transforming into that of an medieval knight. Cyril was at Road's side, holding his adopted daughter in his arms as he stroked her hair soothingly, telling her that everything was going to be alright. Picking her up, he instantly used the Earl's ark as a means of escape, giving Allen a cold glare before he disappeared.

Blocking Tyki's punch with his sword, he spun out of the way before rushing at him again. Both ramming into each other and then jump back, becoming colorful streaks of white and black. As they rammed into each other once more, Tyki head-butted him to the forehead before sending a wave of his embodied darkness. Using the cloak as a shield, Allen skidded across the ground as the attack continued in full force. Gritting his teeth, he cursed under his breath for the fact that his body was beginning to tire from the strain of the combined heart and Noah power. Not willing to give up, he pressed on, his shear will the only thing that was keeping him going. Thoughts of Lenalee came spiraling into his head, images of what could happen if he were to succumb to his exhaustion filling his head.

Redoubling his grip around his sword, he charged forward, the sword poised ready to impale his enemy. Moving at an accelerated speed thanks to the Dark Boots, he hoped for this to be the final move, hoping that this would end the fight and at least free Tyki from his Noah self. He was relying on the combined power for this, ready to use it all to its fullest.

"THIS ENDS NOW!!!" yelled Allen as he drove the sword through Tyki's chest, all of his power channeling into the blade which then went into Tyki. A blinding light consumed them, followed by an explosion that created an even bigger crater than the one Allen had created just by sending Cyril to the ground. As the flash disappeared along with the noise, it could be noted that some of the trees had been leveled and both Allen and Tyki slammed against opposite trees. Falling to the ground, the two tried to get back to their feet but quickly sank back to the ground.

Tyki was left cold after that, too tired to move any further. Allen was in a little bit better condition, able to get up on his hands and knees shaking somewhat. He stayed like that for a while, violent tremors running up his body as he began coughing up some blood. Slowly Lenalee's innocence returned to her and the 14th's power returned to remaining dormant within him like before. Once he was with only his innocence once again did he collapse, his mind faintly aware of the approaching footsteps. He would have forced himself to get back up but his body proved unresponsive to this command. When the footsteps came closer did he give up trying to stand up. He stared at the pair of feet drawing closer before slowly closing them.

"Baka apprentice."

*&*

Eyes slowly fluttering open, Allen winced in pain before sinking slowly back to the ground. A fire illuminated the spot he was laying near, shadows all around. As his mind wandered dully, the sudden remembrance of Lenalee caused him to rise up despite the pain. Calling out her name, he was greeted with the image of someone he couldn't quite make out behind the rise of the smoke coming from the fire. But if he remembered correctly, someone had spoken to him before he had pasted out in a manner all too familiar.

"…m-master?" stuttered Allen, shocked by it all as the person across from him seemed to perk up slightly at the title.

"Who'd the hell did you expect?! Santa Claus?"

_Author's Note: I am aware of the fact the sword of exorcism can only physically harm someone if they are evil but in the case of my story, it can still deliver damage just like any regular sword. Please Review. _


	30. Reverse Roles

Ch. 30: Reverse Roles

"What are you doing here?! We all thought…that you were…" began Allen until he was unable to complete his own sentence.

"There's more ways than one to fake your own death boy. It was that hard, albeit painful. I just happen to be in the area when I spotted a flash from the distance. And I grew curious, so I checked it out. And that is how I end up with the likes of you, you ungrateful weakling, a former Noah if what you did actually worked, and an unconscious young woman desperately hanging onto life." said Cross before taking another drag of his cigarette. The sudden mention of his girlfriend caused him to jump up in alarm. Ignoring all bouts of pain that erupted from this one simple action, he shifted his gaze around hastily until he found the spot Cross had left her to lay. Rushing over to her, stumbling down to her side, he grasped one of her hands into his own, a look of concern in his silver eyes. Perspiration was covering her face, her brows furrowed slightly as she took stabbing breaths. It was then he noticed the fairly decent bandage work wrapped around her chest, fresh, crisp white soaked through with crimson blood. She wasn't in a good state.

"Master…did you…were you the one to bandage her up?"

"Does it look like there's anyone here that would have done it? I had to do it if you didn't want the girl to bleed to death. But just from my knowledge in medicine, something that is very little I might add, she's in a pretty bad shape. She needs some proper medicine and better doctors." answered Cross, a hint of concern lighting up in his eyes. Though he would deny it ever happening, he couldn't help the fact that he worried about the safety of Lenalee. Allen tightened the hold he had around her hands, his gaze unmoving from the one he loved.

"Then you must take her back to the Order Headquarters." stated Allen flatly, his words hesitant and somewhat against this notion but found that there was no other way around it. His master was the only fit enough to travel swiftly and safely. If he wanted Lenalee to pull through he would have to trust his master just this once. If he weren't so injured as himself, he wouldn't be asking this fool for help this serious.

"In case that pea-sized brain of yours has already forgotten, I'm technically dead. Besides, why would I ever return to that hell hole they call 'sanctuary'? I don't think so baka apprentice. Consider yourselves lucky that I had the decency to stick around like I did." answered Cross as he got up to leave. Thinking a few steps ahead, Allen had already moved away from Lenalee and stood in front Cross, as if daring him to try and get passed him. As soon as he had tried to make an escape, Allen had just barely grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up from the ground with some difficulty. Cross froze, his cigarette slackening as he stared into a new light in his former apprentice's eyes. They weren't talking to each other like they had when he was the master and Allen was the apprentice. They were talking with each other like man to man.

"You're the only one who can do it. I wouldn't burden you with such a simple task that has the risk of exploiting your status of being presumed dead, believe me, wouldn't. But when the person I love is fighting to stay alive, words that you yourself just said which I'm choosing to believe, then I as hell will do everything it takes to make sure that she gets better. And for once, whether you want to accept it or not, I'm going to put my faith in you. Got it?!" yelled Allen, a cold sweat breaking out on his face as he struggled to maintain his hold over his former master.

When Cross gave no inclination to answer, Allen couldn't continue holding him up like that and had to reside in releasing the hold and slumping back down to the ground where he began catching his breath. Breathing in heavy amount of air, struggling to regain his breath, Allen looked hesitantly up when he felt a hand grab his arm tightly. Yanked back to his feet harshly, Cross immediately let go and stepped back, arms folded across his chest as he looked off into the fire. He took a long moment to gaze into the flames, watching them rise up and down before speaking again.

"You know, as much as I hate to say it, you've finally gotten your balls if you're that dedicated to this young woman. You've grown up quite a lot since the last time I saw you. But your still my worthless excuse of a no good apprentice that's stomach is bigger than their mouth." Spoke Cross as he began walking away, leaving Allen to presume that he was alone in this. Sighing, Allen crawled over to where Lenalee laid, half aware of the fact that Tyki was nearby, still unconscious and bound to a tree. Looking down at her with sadden eyes, Allen couldn't stop himself from crying as his head slowly sunk down to rest on his knees as he began crying as he sat beside her. What made him believe that Cross was going to be of any help?

It was all up to him to make sure she was brought back to the Order, the only place he knew that was close enough and in fact where it was. He would just have to get pass his own injuries just to make sure she was taken care of. There was no denying that she wasn't well and that her wounds weren't as good as they appeared. She was already gaining a fever. Things just looked hopeless. If only Komui hadn't sent them out so quickly. This, astonishingly, was a time in which he wished the older man had been in his sister complex mode. At least then none of this probably would have happened. It seemed hopeless.

*&*

Allen woke with a start, unaware of the fact that he had fallen asleep. Scratching the back of his head, move his muscles around as much as he could without causing pain before he realized that Lenalee was gone. Panic rose in him as he jumped to his feet, nearly falling down from the stiffness before he began running around, his only light being the growing dawn of the sky seeing as how the fire was extinguished. It was then that he noticed a folded piece of paper laid where he had previously been, grabbing his attention. Finding it the only thing that could give him the answers he was looking for, he slowly walked to it and sat down to the ground before reading its content.

_ I thought about the words you said last night and came to the conclusion that I care jack about what you feel. But, Miss Lenalee did look fairly bad and couldn't deny the fact that she needed better help. So, for just this once, I'm going to do what you want me to do. I've taken her back to the Order where she'll be care for but thankfully I still have a few contacts willing enough to keep my whereabouts quiet. If things are to turn sour and I'm found out, you're are going to be in it boy. I mean it, your life from then on will be worse than going to hell. Just keep that in mind. But exchange, you must never speak of me again to anyone else and you must continue your duties as a General over your love for this girl. What is the sake of one over all if it's all up to one person? I assume you'll make the right choice. The Earl's downfall must come before Miss Lenalee. _

_P.S: You might want to keep an eye on that Noah there, something tells me that he may be of use to this side of the war. Your tactics just might have worked my ignorant, head over heels in love apprentice. _

Relief washed over Allen, feeling at ease knowing that his master was taking her back to the Order despite the risks on his part. Crumpling the letter in his grip, he tossed it into the fire pit, slowly getting back to his feet as he began searching for more fire wood for later. It took him a half an hour but he soon found enough to last him until the next morning. Growing hungry, he searched through the bags that had been left to make the journey swifter and decided to munch on a couple loafs of bread. In that time, Tyki was beginning to regain consciousness.

Slow at first, he opened his eyes warily, finding it strange that he couldn't move his arms or legs. Confused, he began squirming around, trying to free himself from his binds. When he realized they were normal ropes, he tried passing through him. But it wasn't working like it should've been. Shocked by this discovery, he persisted his struggling, thrashing around harder. Amused by this, Allen slowly dragged himself over to where Tyki remained tied up. Noticing he was not alone, Tyki stopped everything he was doing to look at Allen.

"What'd you do to me card shark? I can't use my powers for some reason." demanded Tyki as he went back to trying to free himself from his binds.

"I don't know, maybe I managed to defeat the Noah within you but that came with a great price." answered Allen, his body still sore, muscles aching all over. Looking at his half eaten loaf of bread, he ripped a piece off and tossed to Tyki, falling short before he could even attempt to catch it in his mouth. Annoyed, he cocked one eyebrow up at Allen, suggesting that he should pick it up and give it to him properly. Chuckling, Allen retrieved it and stuffed it into Tyki's mouth, laughing harder when he watched the man struggle with what he had in his mouth. After a few gasp filled breaths, Tyki began to speak.

"I didn't want your stinking food dumb ass, I want you to untie me." asked Tyki, his annoyance already at an all time high. This wasn't his day.

"How do you feel?" ignored Allen, not wanting to take a chance to see if the Noah of Pleasure had truly left Tyki. But then again, he wouldn't be asking him to untie him now would he. Tyki seemed a little taken aback by this question, taking a moment to mull it over.

"I feel…different. As if this pressure was lifted from my shoulders. And the love I felt for my Noah brothers and sisters…is gone. What did you do to me?" asked Tyki again, this time with not as much force, a little unsure of whether he wanted an answer or not. Noticing this, Allen was willing to take the chance and released Tyki from his hold against the tree. Sliding to the ground, he stretched his arms around, wincing slightly in discomfort. Outstretching a hand, he thrust it forward quickly and when nothing happened he tried again, ending in failure once more. Laughing at his own failure, he soon gave up, falling onto his back in a gesture that he was done with it.

Staring up dully at the sky, he let out a tired sigh. He wasn't sure how or why it happened but he had somehow been release from his Noah. He was free. But that posed a question to what he wanted to do. What was going to happen to him now? He had always known the ravages of war and wasn't use to a quiet, serene type of life. Even being a vagabond didn't suit him well. And he couldn't return to them looking like this, still with grey skin and dark brown hair. Ever since his encounter of his true Noah form, he hadn't been able to rid himself of the skin tone or hair color. Such a pity that it were to still remain.

Feeling the former Noah's pain, Allen jumped slightly at the feel of innocence reacting all of the sudden. Pulling it out, it automatically went to Tyki. Startled by this, Tyki sat up and crossed his arms over his face, a futile attempt to block the oncoming object. In a sudden flash, his hands became embedded with jagged metal that stuck out at odd angles. His finger nails had elongated somewhat, pointed like claws, both hands having miniscule crosses embedded in the middle finger's nail.

"Huh?" said Tyki as he looked over his hands, puzzled by this change in events, this change in sides.

"The innocence chose you…maybe because it knows your true desire to fight but to fight for what is right. You may have not realized it, at least, not until know that you've truly didn't believe in what the Earl had in mind because you still thought of your friends. Your really a good person you know." said Allen, giving Tyki a smile as he stared at him blankly. Tyki snickered to himself again as he began running his hands through his hair, trying to ease his nerves.

"You know something, I'm a pretty screwed up former Noah. First, for starters, I was a Noah who killed exorcist just for the hell of it and because I had to. Next, I meet some snot nosed, white haired card shark that wants to help me, to 'bring salvation to my soul' and all that crap. We have a rough start, good relationship as enemies until things turned sour. The 14th attempted to kill me again through you, you tried killing me even though you really wanted to free me from the Noah in me. And despite it all, I've somehow managed to gain an innocence fragment, the very thing I had an impulse to destroy. How the hell does that happen?" said Tyki incredulously, still in disbelief over the fact that he had been given innocence. Guess he still had some fighting to do.

"Forget the fact that I'm still a young General with little experience and younger than you, I want you to be my student. I'm sure Komui wouldn't mind if I take you over other Generals. After all, it was my innocence that reacted to you." Replied Allen, a smile meaning quite the opposite of what it appeared to be. By the way he was smiling, Tyki didn't truly like the sound of this.

"Why would I want some card-shark to train me? Technically speaking, I'm old enough to be your great grandfather. I may look young but that's what happens when a Noah takes you over so many years ago. I am not having you as my teacher, there's just no way beansprout. Besides, who said I wanted to even fight in this war anymore." answered Tyki with indignation as he folded his arms across his chest and looked off to the side.

"Don't kid yourself Tyki, you don't know what else to do from here on out. You can't go back to the Earl and you would surely make a difference if you joined the Order. You would be saving people like your friends. Wouldn't that make you happy? Wouldn't it give you purpose?" asked Allen, trying to convince the stubborn former Noah to join the Order. At the mention of being able to help people like his friends, he looked to Allen, debating with himself if he should or shouldn't go up with his word.

"Fine…but don't expect me to call you master or teacher or friend. And you will not call me student or apprentice. Just Tyki is fine. And if anything tricky happens and people don't want to trust me, I plan you. Deal?" stated Tyki.

"Alright, then you can just call me Allen or if you don't feel comfortable with that, then you can keep calling me card shark. You're my friend from here on out Tyki so if anyone gives you trouble then they've got me to deal with." replied Allen, still give him a smile to the surprised Tyki. Out of all the people he had thought it would be hard to earn trust or friendship, it had been Allen. After all the things he's done to the young exorcist, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a grudge between the two of them. But here he was showing compassion and forgiveness, something he wasn't use to.

"You know something, your alright…for a skimming card shark."

_Author's Note: Please Review_


	31. Training 101

Ch. 31: Training 101

After a few uncomfortable and rather awkward days, the two set off to the nearest town or village. Despite his still tired and injured body, Allen pushed himself to get going, growing tired of idling around useless. Tyki begrudgingly followed along, unused to the fact that he was the apprentice to a younger and defiantly shorter young man. And by the fact that he was now considered an exorcist rather than a Noah. The two walked side by side in silence for a couple miles, Allen soon losing his breath and finding harder to catch his breath with each step. Noticing the growing fatigue, Tyki placed a hand to a shoulder and forced him to the ground. Falling from the sudden action, he looked up at Tyki while he looked down rather bored before sitting down himself.

"Let's take a moment to stop, my legs are getting tired. I mean seriously, do all you exorcist walk everywhere? Why don't you use the ark or something, because this is going to kill me? What are we doing exactly anyway?" rambled Tyki as he pulled out a cigarette and quickly lit it before popping it into his mouth.

"I guess we could use the ark but then again, I'm not use to all of its powers and the power of the 14th his harder to reach that it use to be. But regardless, the ability is still there, I just have to learn it again. And we're looking for accommodators if your that curious, soldiers for God's army if that's what you want to call it." answered Allen before taking slow and deep breaths.

"Some job this is. I want to go to this Order place instead. Don't I need to be known by whoever it is that runs the god damn place?" asked Tyki, furthering his interrogation over his so called Master. It was the only thing that could occupy his mind at the time, nothing else appealing to his taste.

"Yes, normally you would but I'm bending the rules." replied Allen as he felt around his diaphragm for any abnormalities that he could detect. Finding nothing strange, he turned to Tyki, his face becoming stern all the sudden. Puffing out a couple of smoke rings, slouched to the side as he stared at the passing birds. He nearly jumped when Allen pulled out the cigarette that he kept hanging haphazardly at his lips. Tossing it to the ground, he extinguished it by the stomp of his foot before getting back up. As Tyki stared at him in disbelief, Allen continued looking around until he spotted a flowing river a couple of feet away.

Instructing Tyki to get up, the two walked over to where the river ran, the flow of the water a gentle stream. Rocks laid scattered across the surface, polished smooth by the running water. Allen looked to the scene with excitement while Tyki simply stared down at it, not seeing what was soon good about a simple river. Before he had the chance to ask, he felt a soft substance hit his face, muffling his voice momentarily before he pulled away. Dumbfounded, he discovered that it was a shirt, which led him to look back at Allen. Said exorcist was pulling off his boots and rolling up his pants up to his knees. Swiping back his shirt, he folded it nicely and placed it against a nearby tree, his boots sitting next to it as he gingerly removed his half mask.

"Take your shirt and your shoes off unless you want them to get wet. And you might want to roll up your pants." instructed Allen as he tried adjusting to the fact that he was nearly blind on his right side. Baffled and left speechless, Tyki had half a mind to argue but changed his mind in the end. Whatever card shark had in mind might be entertaining, to say the least.

*&*

"Almost had me that time, you just lost your footing." commented Allen as he watched Tyki sputter out water as he got up on his hands and knees. Shaking his head of the water that soaked it, he frustratingly got back onto his feet and stepped onto the stone he had previously been on. It had only been an hour and he had already fallen in the water at least 50 times. This wasn't his idea of fun.

"No offense, but your teaching style sucks. What am I supposed to be learning from this? How to get wet 101?" complained Tyki as he rubbed his sore arms. Allen sighed, still surprised that he hadn't at least understood why they were doing this.

"As an exorcist, you must be able to adapt to any terrain you might be forced to fight in. Being versatile is key if you want to survive. Besides, what better way to teach you this then to fight on stepping stones in a river." showed Allen as he jumped to the farthest one he knew he could land on. Flipping into a hand stand, he perform a few acrobatic techniques that only annoyed Tyki more before getting back up onto his feet. As soon as he did, Tyki was charging at him once more, a fist drawn back and ready to strike. Punching out at Allen, Allen grabbed a hold of his tightly clinched fist, blocking the swing from reaching his face. Another strike went out at him, forcing Allen to grab the fist as well, his feet sliding back from the brute force of Tyki's strength.

Now it became a battle for the stepping stone as Tyki hopped onto the one Allen was on, forcing the white haired General to move back even more than he had originally wanted to. A sharp pain ran up his spine, causing him to momentarily flinch in pain as he pushed harder against Tyki's downward force of weight. Arms shaking, legs on the verge of buckling, it was all Allen could do but to relent to the pain as a sudden wave of it assaulted his back. Right foot falling off the edge, Tyki used the blunder to his advantage as he forced all of his weight down on the boy. Teeth clenched, Allen relented and allowed himself to fall back onto his back and to the ground.

Landing harshly on his back, Allen began seeing red across his vision as he arced his back in pain, in taking a sharp breath. His vision began zooming in and out, the red spots slowly disappearing. When he tried to rise, he found the motion impossible, hindered by seemingly tightening knot to his spine, waves of pain erupting whenever he tried to rise. He had feared that he had an internal injury that had escaped his knowledge but not to this extent or as severe. Puffing up with pride over his single victory, Tyki grinned up at the sky as his hands went to his hips, as if he were king of the world. But when he noticed that Allen hadn't risen did he look down, confused as to why he was still lying in the water.

He went to say something but stopped when he saw that his master was in pain, Allen's face momentarily scrunching up as he attempted once more to get back up before sinking defeated to the ground. Expression turning serious, he wordlessly dropped down into the water as he made his way to Allen. As if sensing the younger man's plea for help, Tyki bent down and draped one of Allen's arms across his shoulders before getting up, Allen wincing and moaning in pain. As soon as he was upright Allen relaxed, Tyki supporting him for a moment before letting him go slowly.

Standing perfectly straight, Allen took a moment to compose himself before moving forward. But that proved too much as the pain again, a burning sensation crawling up his spine that caused him to nearly fall forward if it weren't for Tyki catching him in time. Breathing rather raggedly, Allen struggled for his breath as he was allowed himself to bare down onto Tyki, his weight coming down on him. That didn't prove to cause any trouble, the former Noah easily being able to drag him out of the water and onto dry land. Pulling him over to where they left their things, he gently set the young General down against the tree, Allen's face beginning to flush as a fever came over him from the throbbing pain.

Loosely pulling his shirt back on, Tyki went to setting up camp and preparing a fire. It about an hour's time, Tyki already had a small pot of water boiling, preparing to make the blandest of teas one could possibly make. With that in set and in motion, he was busying himself by wringing out a folded piece of cloth that had once been Allen's shirt sleeves. Once satisfied that it was still rather damp with cool water from the river but not quite sopping wet, he walked over to where the dazed Allen sat, the fever and pain having clouded his mind as a way of blocking it out. Crouching down before him, he placed the cloth onto his forehead, the only means of possibly bringing the fever down.

"You know, for a General and an exorcist, you seem to think that your invisible. But you're not; no one knows that better than me. Think about how your treating your body when you fight more often, otherwise, you're going to get yourself killed." reprimanded Tyki as he moved back to the boiling pot to check up on the tea.

"I can't…let that stop me…if I have to die…I'll die on the battlefield…that's my duty……as an exorcist…" replied Allen, his mind in still in a different world comprised of his thoughts, only having subconsciously heard Tyki speak. Upon hearing an actual reply, Tyki stopped, turning his head to the young and injured General. Allen gave a weak and pitiful smile to himself, his gaze still fixed on his shoes rather than at Tyki.

"I remember…a while ago I think…that someone said that…exorcists with parasite innocence…die at a younger age…Because their body…is the weapon. I'm a weapon of God…" rambled Allen, mostly to himself due to the effects of his rising fever. Tyki stared at him for a while, half listening to what he was saying to himself. Finding most of it mindless drabble after a while, he went back to tending to the tea, pouring himself and Allen a cup before making it back to the delusional General.

"You must one hell of a fever is you're considering yourself a weapon of God. I mean, that's what being an exorcist really is but I don't see why we should have to consider ourselves apostles of God. We're just people unfortunate enough to be cursed as exorcists or as Noah. Here, drink this. Might taste like shit but supposedly it will help with the pain." said Tyki as he handed Allen a cup of tea, making sure the boy had in his hands before he stepped back.

Taking a sip of the dark liquid, he quickly made a face before spitting it out, his sense taste and appetite now dissuaded from the rankle taste. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he walked over to the river and sat at the edge, calmly watching the fish swim here and there unceremoniously. Concentrating, he tried some techniques of invoking his innocence that Allen had told him while they traveled, hoping that whatever it was that he could do would help him in catching some fish. But all of his attempts were useless, his patience thinning and his aggravation rising.

"Alright Tyki, now, concentrate, I know you can do it. How else would you have survived Jasdevi and David for this long?" chanted Tyki as he stared down at his hands, jagged pieces scattered around all over, most of it at his knuckles. Clenching and unclenching them, he closed his eyes and attempted once more to invoke the hidden power. Allen half watched him, his exhausted body catching up to him as he fell into a restless sleep.

*&*

_ He was standing in a field of snow, everything desolate from as far as his eye could see. It seemed like nothing yet everything was happening at the one moment, pulling him further in as he began walking forward. To where, he was uncertain. All he knew was that he needed to find someone, if only for a brief moment. Who that was, he was equally uncertain. _

_ Trekking through the barren wasteland of snow, he continued on his way. Time seemed to have stopped completely in this place, the sun neither rising or setting in this land of dusk. As he continued on, he came vaguely aware of other presences, one coming to the North, the West, and the East, himself coming from the South. A fog descended around him, making it difficult to see in one spot, a point ahead of him. Thick as pea soup, he tried discerning if there was something on the other side or within the fog, now finding it all around him._

_ Straining his eyes to see, he suddenly felt a whoosh of cool air sweep past him, expelling the fog around him. Shielding his eyes from the rush of cold air, he slowly lowered his guard upon realizing that he wasn't alone. Directly opposite of him, separated by several feet was Lenalee, looking equally as bewildered. And surprisingly, to his right and left stood figures of Kanda and Lavi, both looking around uneasily. All in all, it seemed like no one knew the other was even there, himself being the only exception. Then a voice seem to echo around him, the volume painful to his head as he fell to his knees, clutching his head. The others were doing the same, the voice so loud that it hurt the eardrums. Eventually it lowered down to a level of recognition, the words becoming comprehensible despite the their throbbing heads._

"_Time's true destroyer will come, vanquishing all that is evil accomplished when he has been chosen. The goal of saving all of mankind from destruction has been placed in his hands. You all will show him the way to the salvation of all human kind." Said the mysterious voice, not too far off of sounding like Hevlaska, well known for her accurate prophecies._

_ Echoing away, Allen slowly got to his feet, as did everyone else as a rush of snow filled air brushed past them. A snow flurry spun before them, a form rising out from the snow in the midst of the whirlwind of snow. A hooded figure stood in the center, a few bangs of black hair contrasting the white hood greatly. The person stood casually, the wind tugging on their clothes while the snow made him blend in with his surroundings. The hazy figure turned and faced them all, stopping at Allen when he looked upon him. A smile could be seen within the recesses of the hood, a faint glow emitting from the person's body to show a series of rune like tattoos that covered his body. _

_ Lifting a hand to his mouth, the person made a motion of silence, hushing Allen before he made any speech out to him about his identity. Instead, he lifted his gloved hands up to the hood concealing his face, preparing to pull it back. But as he did so, the whirlwind picked up, twisting around him and blocking him from Allen. He seemed to melt into the wind, his form carried away by the breeze in the form of small particles. Last thing Allen saw of the young man was his smile as he was whisked away by the flurry of snow. And as the wind blew away past them, he discovered that the mysterious young man had disappeared. _

_ A shattering noise filled the area, the four of them looking to the form as the ice beneath them that had been previously been hidden by the snow cracked underneath them. Cracks breaking out in every direction, by the time they looked down it was too late to react to it. The ground underneath them collapse, sending them all falling down in what seemed like a bottomless pit of darkness._

*&*

Allen slowly opened his eyes, awaken from his strange dream un-expectantly. Why did it seem like his and Lenalee's dreams were more important and pertained to the future more than usual lately? Why were Kanda and Lavi there? What does this all mean? Who was he? Shaking the questions aside, Allen looked up to see that the sky was beginning to darken and that Tyki was nowhere to be found. And his head didn't feel as warm as before and his thoughts weren't as clouded as they had been when he had been awake earlier.

Looking to his cup half filled with the bland tea, he took it into his hands and gave it a sip. Regardless of the fact that it had cooled and was the worst thing he had ever tasted that was non alcoholic, he continued to drink it. It at least cleared his parched throat. As he took another sip, he stopped mid way when he heard the sound of rushing footsteps coming towards him. Peering up from the cup, he noticed a burst of flame erupt from the nearby forest, Tyki's form soon rushing out from the line of trees. Another burst of flame shot out from the forest, the fire scorching nearby trees into thin skeletons.

Tyki was sprinting back to where Allen was, a look of desperation on his face as he tried to make it back to camp. Stumbling here and there, he tripped on his own feet and face planted the ground. Shooting out above the tree line in the distance and hovering around in the sky, the sun hitting the attacker in a way that prevent anyone of distinguishing what or who it was. Scrambling back to his feet, Tyki narrowly missed the downward dive from the attacker as he made his way back to Allen.

"Tell that idiot red-head that I'm not the enemy card shark!!" hollered Tyki as he passed the spot Allen was left at, the assailant rushing to catch him. But when they caught sight of Allen, the person froze, hands around the large hammer slackening.

"Allen, what are you doing here?" asked an astonished Lavi as he pulled down his hood, disbelief sketched upon his face. At the discovery of finding his friend once again brought joy to Allen, his face beaming as he looked up at the red head. They had a little catching up to do now that they had found each other again, if only by chance.

_Author's Note: I have to admit, this story is taking all new turns that I hadn't originally planned out even though this works all the same. I originally wasn't going to have Lavi return until the near end of this fanfic. Mind you this isn't the end or anything relatively close to it. I just couldn't exclude him from the story any longer and wanted his return. And as for the dream part, you'll understand why Kanda and Lavi were there as well probably in the third and final fanfic of this series. I'll update Trust in You probably by this Friday but defiantly Saturday. Please Review._


	32. Catching Up

Ch. 32: Catching Up

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that this guy, the former Noah of Pleasure, is now an exorcist! How is this even possible?!?!" exclaimed Lavi, in total disbelief of it all. Allen laughed at his childish expression, despite the fact that it sent waves of pain up his back. He was still surprised that Lavi was indeed in front of him, as if this was just another dream formed from his slightly feverish mind. Lavi certainly had changed a lot from the last time he had seen him, he looked older and somewhat more mature. But that was only by his appearance; headband removed so that his hair was now down and in his face, facial hair growing at his chin to form a small, reddish goatee similar to Cross's. Thank God he still had the same personality because he was sure he'd be able to look at a guy that looked similar to his master.

"Don't ask me, it just sort of happened on its own. So now he's my pupil." replied Allen as he gave his best friend a smile. It was nice that he was here again, hopefully for good.

"That's sure to be interesting, you two getting along for once instead of trying to kill the other. How's Lenalee about this?" asked Lavi, looking around for said exorcist. At this Allen cringed, remembering why Lenalee wasn't there by his side at the moment.

"She's doesn't know, she was taken back to the Order due to the severity of her wounds by Master Cross. It was only by chance that he found us. If he hadn't been in the area then…" Allen cut off his sentence, unable to say what could have happened aloud. He realized that he had mention his Master, obviously conveying that he was alive but he didn't care. To hell with his Master. Lavi could sense the sudden change in mood, quickly devising a way to cheer up his dear friend up.

"Don't worry yourself out about, she's safe now so that's all that matters. Now then, what's wrong with you?" asked Lavi, his face turning serious for once. Allen tried to deny that anything was wrong but Lavi could see right through and gentle forced Allen to lay on his stomach. Cupping his own chin, Lavi inspected Allen's back, noticing a few bruises ran up his spine. Placing hand there, he felt a tremor run up Allen as he struggled to not wince despite how much the pain it brought him. Running his hand slowly up and down to younger boy's spine, Lavi tried discerning the cause of the pain. Making it to his neck a second time around, he noticed something different. Pressing down a little harder than he already was, Allen arced his back in pain as another tremor of pain ran down his back. Removing his hand slowly, he thought about for a moment, nodding his head to himself.

"I think I've found your problem. Despite the bruises on your back, which are adding to your pain, your real problem is that you have a herniated disk at the base of your neck. But don't worry, you just need to take it easy for a while there buddy and it will resolve on its own. Give it a couple of weeks and you should be just as good as new. Tyki, why don't you make me a hot towel for Allen to have for his neck." informed Lavi, his knowledge in the medical field far exceeding the two of them combined. Tyki nodded before rushing off to complete the task, Lavi insisting that Allen remain lying on his stomach rather than sitting back up. But being pig headed and stubborn, he persisted, stating that he was a General and Generals don't just lie around all day like his master. For his own safety and for his own good, Lavi knocked him out when he continued trying to get back up onto his feet.

"Sorry I had to do that to you buddy, but it was for your own good." Lavi said as he removed his jacket and draped across his back to keep his exposed torso warm. Noticing the Chinese symbol, Lavi allowed himself to smile a tender smile, remembering that Lenalee had given it to him as a Christmas gift.

"Friendship…hmph, yah right. Nice try Lenalee but now I know what it really means. But I'll let stay a secret for a little longer." added Lavi as he grabbed the heated and soaked cloth from Tyki and placed on the back of Allen's neck. Standing up, he let out a sigh before turning back to Tyki, who was sitting cross legged, smoking a cigarette. Noticing that he was being stared at by the red head, he cocked his head up and gave him a bored look. But that changed when he realized that the eye patch sending his enlarged hammer down at him. Scrambling back, he looked at the red head incredibly, jumping this way and that in order to avoid his swings.

"What the hell is your problem Bookman?! Allen told you I was one of the good guys now!" yelled Tyki as he struggled to evade the Bookman and his hammer.

"You are training right? Well seeing as how the teach it out, it's time for a substitute to come in and whip you into shape. Come on, show me what you got." answered Lavi as he continued his rampage. This is going to be so much fun Tyki thought as he ducked another overhead swing.

*&*

The next time Allen woke up, the sun beginning to rise up in the sky, he found Tyki sprawled out unconscious, bruised and battered up to no end. Lavi sat near the fire, taking a sip of some fresh and properly made tea, appearing not as bad as Tyki appeared. Ignoring the fact that he shouldn't really be moving about, Allen pulled himself onto his hands and knees and crawled over to where Lavi sat. The red head saw him instantly, turning his head over to him as he quickly jumped to his feet and moved over to him. Grabbing underneath his armpits, he lifted him up and dragged him over to the fire. Quickly making it over to the steadily beating flames, Lavi positioned Allen so that he was sitting up but was propped up with his and Allen's bags to ease some discomfort.

Walking back to his position, he poured Allen some tea before going back to his own. The two friends remained silent as they continued with their tea; neither one knew how to begin a conversation, both not sure of what would be good to talk about. But remembering the way Tyki was just lying there, seemingly exhausted from whatever it is that he had been doing.

"What'd you do to Tyki, it looks like you killed him." asked Allen, his gaze fixed on his knocked out apprentice.

"Oh that, there's an interesting story behind that. You see, I decided to continue his training in your place. Wouldn't want him to get lazy…" began Lavi, retelling last night's events to Allen while he had been knocked out.

_ Lavi was twirling around his hammer, shrunk down to be handled with one hand. Tyki had been knocked to the ground once more, bruises forming all over his body. He had had just about enough of this red headed fool, constantly proving to be the stronger one of the two. If he were still a Noah he wouldn't be treated like this; at least then he had some ounce of respect. But now he was just a pitiful exorcist trying to grasp the concept of innocence. He was still having some trouble in that department. No matter how much he tried, the innocence would not activate._

_Sighing in hopelessness, Tyki looked up anxiously at the sight of a torrent of water coming slithering towards him, its full intent of ramming into him. Instinctively he crossed his arms over his face, unable to perform anything else that might stop the oncoming typhoon of water. Fear ran across his mind, true fear that he would be swallowed up and suffocated until he couldn't breathe no more. He was afraid that if the water made it to him, he wouldn't be coming out. So all he could do was pray that his innocence would activate already, hoping that whatever it was that he could do would get him out of the situation of being swallowed up by a serpent of water._

_ And then, something in his head seemed to click. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at his hands, both fingernails with the crosses embedded in them began glowing a greenish hue. That seemed to help a new found plan formulate in his head, a grin of satisfaction coming upon his face. Clenching his hands into fists, the metal parts left embedded in his hands extended, incasing both hands in long triangular spears. Startled by such a drastic change to his body, especially when it had been his hands, Tyki scanned them quickly before rushing at the serpent of water, a cry issuing from his lips as he struck the figment beast. Slicing it down, he instantly blocked a downward swing from Lavi, sparks flying from the contact._

_ Already Tyki was beginning to feel a heavy weight crash upon him, his body not use to synchronizing with innocence. Sweat sliding down his face, his metal encased arms shaking as they struggled against the weight of Lavi's hammer. Many opportunities had arisen where Lavi could have brought down Tyki but found that since he had activated his innocence for the first time, he would give him a break. Both of them jumping back, Tyki struggled to recover his breath as he rushed back at Lavi, his arms flailing as he tried landing a hit at the more experienced exorcist. _

_ Failing with each swing, Tyki soon found himself bringing his arms together as the metal on both of his arms fused together to make one long pillar of metal, rune like figures running up the weapon. Struggling with the weight, the former Noah allowed the tip to drag on the ground, creating a thin impression in the dirt as he charged forward once more. A glint of determination sparked in his dark eyes, causing the red head to smile as he decided to end the fight/training session. If it were to carry on any longer, Tyki might face the probability that the innocence would drain all of his strength and energy in an attempt to compensate for its power. Besides, he was still new to this, this being his first invocation; Lavi didn't want to overdo it._

_ Readjusting his grip on his hammer, he jumped back far enough away from the new exorcist, closing his eyes in concentration. In a span of a few seconds, he had swept his hammer over head and struck it to the ground. Instantaneously the shock wave arose and took the form of a pack of charging horses, fueled by the shock wave. The charging horses in the form of powerful gusts crashed into Tyki, knocking him back several feet. It was over for him after that. With the wind knocked out of him, his body bruised and battered, it was all he could do but to fall into unconsciousness. _

_ Instantly his innocence deactivated, his arms separating and the liquid like metal moving down to his hands and into his finger nails. The crosses glowed a little longer before extinguishing, all signs of the innocence ever having activated disappearing. Lavi stood a little longer still in his battle stance before relaxing, running a hand across his forehead and through his hair before making his way to Tyki. Huffing slightly from the exertion, he bent down and stared at the fallen exorcist, taking a moment to check that he was still breathing before ruffling his hair playful as he got back up. Training was over for tonight he guessed._

As Lavi concluded his recounting of last night's events, he took another sip of his tea before leaning back and letting out a tired sigh. He mumbled some words to himself that Allen couldn't quite make out before he began hearing a light snore come from the red head. He clearly was exhausted more than he had let on, not having mentioned anything about getting any sleep. Allen simply shook his head, left with two exorcists knocked out exhausted and he bound to his spot where he sat, unable to move away without provoking more pain. Sighing, he hoisted himself back down onto his back, his gaze fixed at the illuminating sky as he remembered the dream he had recently had concerning the future, Lavi having been in it as well. He would ask the red head about it later. Right now his mind kept wandering over to Lenalee, wandering if she was alright and if she had been brought to the Order or not.

He wanted to return to headquarters, to make sure she was alright, but his master's words rung throughout his head, reminding him of what really needed to be done. The main priority was to find more accommodators to help in the battle against the Earl and to bring about his downfall. Love shouldn't even be in existence in their line of work. But it was and it did, and he wasn't regretting it. He loved Lenalee and nothing would change that. He just hoped that their love was strong enough to see them through right to the end. And that they made it out together.

*&*

The booming sounds of a piano erupted all around them, the sound's of the Earl's anger personifying in the form of music. Judging by the sounds of the piano, one could guess that he wasn't too happy. Especially since he had just lost one of his most valuable pieces on his side of the chessboard. Mercym and Tryde flinched as they made their way to the Earl while Wisely simply stared into space, unfazed by the intense music. The Earl had summoned the three of them, for what, they did not know. But it didn't seem good if the Earl was this upset; especially when Wisely was involved.

The two Noah stood behind Wisely, allowing him to enter first in hopes that he would take most of their master's heat before they got burned. And like always, he didn't seem bothered by it as he entered quietly, his brothers following after him. The room was lit up with hovering candles, the fire dimmed down t add a more dramatic effect. Across them stood the Millennium Earl, his back to them as he kept his hands pressed down forcibly on the keys. The sound dragged on and on until it became no recognizable sound. The three of them stood patiently as they awaited for their master's orders.

"Damn Heart, always trying to get in my way. But I must have patience, in time, it'll all go according to plan. In time, my goals will succeed. And I won't have Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee stand in my way." mumbled the Earl mostly to himself but partially for the benefit of his listeners. Uplifting his hands from the keys, he turned to face them, a flash of anger daunting to even Wisely coming across his features as he began giving them their orders.

"I want the three of you to do anything you can to create even more akuma. I want to see as much akuma as possible, so much that it'll leave the Order branches speechless. And if anyone gets in your way or finds out who you are, you kill them."

The three Noah nodded, all of them wishing to leave as soon as possible. But Wisely hung back for a moment, curious about why the Earl had been so upset.

"It's about what has happened to our brother isn't it?"

"Yes Wisely, that's a part of the reason. But now that he's gone, I have no further use of him. If you happen to cross paths with him, fill free to kill him." instructed the Earl as he turned away from his Noah child, feeling satisfied with his answer. So did the Noah, giving him another nod before walking out. The Earl looked over to the chessboard that hovered over the ground, one of the pieces belonging to his side knocked off the board, the knight representing Tyki. That only made for another Noah he had to replace in his family. Who knew how long that would take.

*&*

Lenalee laid in one of the medical beds, beads of sweat clinging to her face as she tossed and turned, her face scrunching up in pain and fear for whatever reason. She suddenly shot up suddenly, a scream escaping her lips as her eyes darted all around the room. Nurses came soon after hearing her distress, all of them trying to calm her down while she continued sitting up, her breathing coming in pants. The head nurse pushed past her subordinates, eager to get to the young woman so that she may calm her down. Ever since she had arrive mysteriously, she had been asleep, comatose with a high fever. Now that she had woken up, it was her job to make sure she remained relaxed and attempt to bring the fever down. She wasn't having much luck with the later part.

Gripping Lenalee by the shoulders, Head Nurse gentle pushed her back down against the bed, desperately trying to calm her down. After a while it worked, albeit barely and soon Lenalee was pushed back to laying down, some of the nurses changing her bandages after noticing that they had reopened. A cold cloth rested on her forehead, a futile attempt to lower the fever. She had relaxed by now, her eyes fixed at nothing but the ceiling, her mind seemingly elsewhere. The nurses left her afterwards, save for the head nurse and her assistant and even they were heading out to check on the others. As they exited, the younger trainee stopped her mentor to inquire about something.

"Head Nurse, what had she meant by 'this isn't happening, this can't happen'?"

"I don't know…I just don't know. We can only assume it was simply a nightmare brought on by the fever." Replied the head nurse, countering what she was thinking herself. She had known Lenalee long enough to know that her nightmares weren't something pretty. And sometimes there was some truth to what she would see. She could only hope that it wasn't all what it seemed.

_Author's Note: Please Review_


	33. Brothers driven apart

Ch. 33: Brothers driven apart

They remained there at the one spot for a couple of weeks before Allen was able to fully walk on his own again. By that time Tyki was starting to get a hang of his innocence, now able to truly activate it by will. He was still learning to get a hand of it though, constantly trying out different techniques whenever he and Lavi spared. Though he lost just about every time, it didn't stop him from accepting or delivering a challenge to Lavi.

Lavi was gone half of the time though, having to go to the nearest market to get some food now that the there was two parasite accommodators in need of feeding. It was taxing job, one that required a lot of money and a fairly large amount of patience. And didn't help at all when his surplus of supplies was gone in a matter of two days. But he didn't complain and if he did he didn't show it, always holding a playful grin on his face whenever he declared that he would be heading into the nearest market once more.

All in all it seemed like everything was settling down for the time being and that they would be finally able to move on and return searching for more accommodators. But fate had other plans.

They were currently traveling as a group now, heading due east by Lavi's calculations by the time they came in sight of a town. And this town caused the trio to stop in their tracks and hold their breath in disbelief. It was currently on fire, the sounds of screams mixing drowned out by rapid gun fire reaching their eyes even at their distance. Allen's eye quickly activated, it moving on its own as it darted left to right in earnest haste, spotting akuma after akuma. A look of horror spread across his face as he watched a woman get blown to smithereens just after one volley of akuma bullets.

Tyki subconsciously clenched his fists, mixed desires filling his thoughts. A part of him was wishing he was down there right now, seeing the carnage first hand and possibly doing some himself but the other was desiring to go and destroy the akuma. He was conflicted with old habits rising up at the sight of this raid with that of his newly created mindset to uphold to the laws created by God. But then he spotted some Noah, the very people that he had once considered his family. It was only Wisely but even then it made his blood boil.

Well for one thing no one had tried saving him, which would have been a nice gesture. And now that he had an innocence, the part that wanted to destroy akumas was even more eager to destroy Noah. Which is why he didn't stop himself from running out into the open like a foolish idiot, his innocence activating due to his heighten emotions. Innocence activating in the form of two double edged swords, one for each arm, he began running faster in his practically drunken rage.

"No Tyki wait!" called out Allen but it was too late, he had already made it to the burning town, jumping un-hesitantly through the flames. Cursing under his breath he soon joined his apprentice, Lavi taking a moment to scratch his head as he digested the scene that had just unfold before him before charging off as well, his hammer steadily get bigger and bigger.

Leaping through the flames, Allen was quickly bombarded by a wave of smoke that burned his eyes and clogged his throat, causing him to cough violently. Ignoring the natural instinct to turn back, he pressed forward, Crown Clown activating. As he did soon, the ground underneath him exploded, sending him flying forward. Sliding across the dirt ripped earth, he was stopped only when he came into the path of a broken down building.

Struggling to his feet, he took a moment to rub his sore head, a fairly large bump forming on the surface from when a rock had hit him. He didn't notice that an innocence fragment he was carrying was reacting, quickly shooting out of the pouch around his belt and disappearing into the smoke. Lavi had noticed it as he came to help Allen up, watching it go through the smoke with his calculating eye. Before he could give his friend an explanation he shot off, his eyes focusing on the direction the fragment had shot off to, leaving Allen alone.

Grumbling over how uncoordinated they all were, Allen dusted himself off before an akuma came shooting out at him, ramming into his chest. Surprised and shocked by the speed at which it moved he had no time to block or even react, the wind was knocked out of him before he knew it. Gasping for air, Allen was forced backwards, the akuma still rammed into him. They didn't stop until they ran into a building, in which the akuma finally released him, allowing him only a moment to remain stuck to the wall before falling to the floor. But before he had a chance to collect himself a foot pressed down on his shoulder, driving him deeper into the ground.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he struggled against the force that was pinning him to the ground before managing to grab the akuma's foot and throwing him clear off him as hard as he could. Getting back up once more to his feet, Allen wiped the sweat the continued to slide down his face due to the heat before bringing forth his sword of exorcism, waiting for the akuma to come charging out of the shadows. But when it didn't happen immediately he began questioning whether or not the thing had moved on. Then it occurred to him that he was fighting an akuma now, and akumas didn't stop until they were destroyed.

So he kept his guard up as he began running along the side of the building he had been slammed until, jumping out of the way every so often when a piece of the building fell to the ground in smolders. Where the hell was Tyki and Lavi? He began pondering upon their location when the akuma attacked once more, sending at him a ball of pulsing dark matter that successfully rammed into his chest. Lurching forward, the implosion sent Allen a dozen or so feet, causing him to hit against another building, this time breaking through the window.

Tumbling across the ashy floor, Allen came to a stop when he hit what felt like a bed frame. Moaning in pain, he coughed up speckles of blood for a moment before slowly sitting back up. As he did this, he instinctively shifted his weight to the side as the akuma came crashing through the roof, narrowly missing him and sinking down through the floor boards onto the lower levels. Coughing some more, Allen rose to his feet, using the sword of exorcism as a crutch for a moment before he extended Crown Belt.

The white strand of fabric found its way around the ankle of the akuma and with all his might, Allen pulled it back up. It was then that he finally got a good look of the creature. It was, in fact, a level 4, one who's features appeared more angled back, giving it a look that suggested that it's specific attribute was that of speed. It glared at him coldly, playing along with him until he was again airborne, shooting through the roof and pulling Allen along with it. Cursing at his luck he was pulled off his feet and into the air, going through a ring of fire before completely emerging out into the open.

Once outside, Allen reluctantly let go of the akuma, quickly plummeting back down into the thickening smoke, his vision once again obscured by the billowing substance. Sighing in his predicament, he allowed himself to fall until yet another akuma thought it be cool to attach itself to him. But by now Allen wasn't taking anymore of this. Somersaulting through the air, Allen made sure that the creature was on the bottom when they landed on the ground. Slashing at it with his sword, he effectively decapitated its medieval head before thrusting the blade through its chest.

Slamming into the ground, he drove his innocence deeper into its chest plates before jumping back, right when the akuma exploded. Trying to breath, Allen once again wiped his forehead away of the sweat and now soot that clung to his face, coughing some more before running off in a random direction. But he had forgotten the level 4 akuma was still out there, prowling through the thick smoke. Not until it came ramming at him once more, with enough force to send him crashing through several buildings. It didn't stop there though; it proceeded to grab him by his hair and knee him in the skull, causing him to cry out in pain.

Tossing him up, it began punching him rapidly in the gut, causing him to cough up huge amounts of blood. If it weren't for Crown Belt pulling him away, he would've thought he was a goner. Using Crown Belt as a means of escape, Allen began traipsing around buildings and pass fires, desperate to lose the akuma so that he could catch his breath. It was hard to trick though, almost being discovered on a multitude of times before he managed to find a nook in the wall that he could squeeze through.

Huffing, Allen relaxed for a moment before becoming alert and pulling up his sword to block an oncoming blow. But thankfully it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Lavi?!" cried Allen, a look of annoyance on his face as he noticed that it was the red head who had tried attacking him. Noticing that it was his friend he grinned sheepishly, shrinking his hammer into a more compact size.

"What are you doing here? Why weren't you helping me, I could've been killed?!" demanded Allen, sour that he was covered in wounds while Lavi looked as dandy as a dandelion. Lavi's grin only furthered, this time he began rubbing the back of his head in nervousness.

"Sorry, I was looking for this guy." replied Lavi before stepping out of the way to reveal trembling young teenage boy with a tear stained face, clutching what looked like a grotesque dagger with wings jutting out in odd angles. He was rocking back and forth, cringing at every little explosion that went off over head.

"They must still be here because they felt the innocence respond to him. That's what that dagger is in his hands." explained Lavi, his exorcist coat draped across the boy's shoulders as a means of reassurance, despite the fact that it hardly had an effect.

"We have to protect him. But there's still another accommodator still out there."

"Alright, but we also have to find Tyki as well. You stay here, I'll go look for them. If anything happens, you guys get out of here." ordered Allen as he shot out of the hole in the wall and emerged back into the opening. But as he did so, the level 4 rammed into him for a third time this whole fight, sending him flying to the right. He was going to deal with this monster before he could find Tyki and the other accommodator.

*&*

Tyki was becoming desperate at this point. He could have sworn he had seen Wisely when they had first came into view of the town. He couldn't have disappeared so quickly and so suddenly like that. Unless it was a trap…

"Correct." responded a voice from behind, causing his eyes to bug before he wheeled around. Standing before him was Wisely, his turban flowing throw the wind as he glared at his former brother. The same could be said for Tyki.

"You know your bailing out in the family left everyone in shambles. Road put up a fit and Cyril wouldn't shut up about how much he hated the exorcist. It was all very annoying really." said Wisely as he stepped out from being partially in the shadows. His white hair was stained in wisps of grey due to the air born soot, his golden eyes looking even more menacing when fire surrounded them.

"What can I say, I was always the rebel." replied Tyki as he stepped back, not liking how his former brother was advancing towards him. But he suddenly stopped, his head turning to the side slowly before looking down, a malicious smile slowly spreading across his lips. Bending down, he punched effortlessly through the wall of the building he was crouching in front of, thrusting his arm through before withdrawing to revel that he had found a boy that was still miraculously alive. In his hands were twisted and disfigured representations of a bow and a cluster of arrows. But Tyki knew right away what it was.

The boy was holding an awaken piece of innocence.

" Well look what I have here. A filthy child carrying what looks like an awful piece of innocence. Whatever will I do now." teased Wisely, giving the boy a terrible shake reminiscing to a kid trying to figure out what he got for Christmas.

"Let him go, he's just a kid." pleaded Tyki, deactivating his innocence and making his way to Wisely. But before Tyki could grab the boy he swung him out of reach, using his one free hand to send Tyki back with an expulsion of telekinesis. A smug smile came across his face as his gaze watched Tyki struggle to get out of the rubble he was piled in before shifting to that of the boy, who was to afraid to even open his eyes.

A lustful look came into his eye as his grip shifted from around the kid's collar of his shirt to his throat. Choking sounds were coming from the boy, his cry muffled by the fact that he was struggling for air. Instantly he let go of the bow and arrows, the weapons falling to the ground forgotten. Wisely ignored them at the moment, taking the time to see the life slip away from the boy before he went for the innocence.

"Hey, get back here kid! It's not safe."

Wisely's look of bloodlust broke suddenly as he turned to the direction the voice had came from. But soon enough another boy looking almost identical to the one he was holding came leaping up into his face, an innocence powered dagger slicing him on the forehead and cheek. Dropping the boy he had held in his hands, he used it to block the weapon before ramming the boy against a wall, knocking him out. Grabbing hold of the dagger, he used his other free hand to grab the boy by the back of his shirt before throwing him to the opposite end of the road. Slamming against the opposite building with a sickening crunch, the boy's body fell limply to the ground before forcing the wall to crumble atop of him.

By now Tyki had freed himself from the rubble and had witnessed the scene of the boy falling limply to the ground and the wall being forcibly caved in atop of him. His breath caught in his chest, his eyes widening as tears wielded up unannounced and before long they were sliding down his cheeks, a look of shock in his face. Lavi had also witnessed the scene, though, his shock could not rival the devastation that was on Tyki's face, nor on the boy who had once been in Wisely's grasp.

The Noah was the only one affected by this as he looked down at the dagger in his hands before tightening his grip around it, the sound of something breaking hitting all their ears. Upon hearing this Tyki snapped, the tears continuing to fall as his innocence began taking on a different shape to them, taking on a completely different form. Through the act of experiencing a remorseful and traumatizing death his innocence was beginning to take on a more definite shape. It took the shape of two metallic paws with sickeningly long fingers, the claws hooked back to give it a hook look, spikes jutting out in inconsistent parts up his arm.

"You will pay for what you did Wisely." Seethed Tyki, his eyes narrowing as he fought back a snarl, his anger mixing with his sorrow.

"I know brother."

_Author's Note: I'm only updating because amber-innocence practically begged me too. I do plan on picking this back up in the summer, I just want to get the other chapters down. Sorry if there is a mistake here and there but I didn't have the time to polish it up. Please review. _


	34. Sacrifice

Ch. 34: Sacrifice

Tyki tackled Wisely to the ground, one clawed hand sinking into his shoulder as he used the other to wipe clean the psychotic expression he was giving him. All this seemed to do was scrape away the outer most flesh, revealing the thin layer of muscle tissue that laid underneath. This made his expression that the more insane, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets as he continued giving him a now very toothy grin. This disgusted the infuriated exorcist, his expression showing such as he moved back, unwilling to get too close to the carnage that was rapidly regenerating. He had seen his Noah brothers' regenerate entire body parts, so why was this bothering him?

"What's a matter Tyki, I thought you'd be use to this kind of stuff by now." taunted Wisely as he punched him across the face, sending him flying a lot farther than it should've. Getting to his feet, he brushed his robes off and glared into the smoke, eyes narrowing.

"Come on Tyki-pon, why don't you come out and play!" yelled Wisely, a beckoning look in his eyes that soon became mixed with insanity as he outstretched his arms in a beckoning motion.

As if on cue Tyki leaped out of the smoke, the sleeves of his jacket on fire as began swinging his arms around in windmill patterns. The air that was produced fuelled the fire and propelled it forward, a small vortex of flame latching onto Wisely. Not waiting for the flames to die down, Tyki grabbed a hold of his former Noah brother and threw him into a nearby building. Using this to buy him some time, the former Noah ran up to the boy who was sitting against the rubble in shock, Lavi trying desperately to get him to move. Skidding to a halt, Tyki fell to his knees in exhaustion, his innocence starting to get the better of him.

"Damn…who knew being an exorcist could be so hard." mumbled Tyki, panting in desperation to catch his breath. But all their seemed to be now was smoke, the cursed substance filling his lungs instead of the much needed oxygen. None of them were going to last much longer in here if they continued to stay. They had to get out, but there was still Wisely to deal with.

"What's your name kid?" asked Tyki, Lavi given him a look that showed that he wasn't cooperating. And unfortunately he was right, the boy just continued to stare at the pile of rubble the other boy was crushed under, his eyes dull and empty as he did so. Cursing some more under his breath, Tyki straightened up at the sound of a building crumbling, the very one he had thrown Wisely in. Sighing in defeat he reluctantly got to his feet, his arms feeling heavier than usual. There was only one way he could ensure that the boy was safe and that the others could make it out safely. He just wasn't sure if he liked the idea all too much. But hey, what could he do? Someone had to do it, so it might as well be himself.

"Yo, Carrot top. Take this kid and go find Allen. When you do, I want the two of you to get out of here. I'll hold off Wisely as long as I can and then I'll try to catch up with you guys." stated Tyki as he turned away, getting ready to meet his fate when Lavi stopped him.

"You're not coming back, are you Tyki." asked Lavi gravely, not liking the tone he had used earlier. It just sounded too much like he was sacrificing himself so that they could escape. Tyki stiffened momentarily before reeling around at Lavi, his wounds spilling blood as he did so. It only served to stiffen Lavi more than he already was.

"What are you waiting for stupid Bookman?! Get out and go find card shark!" ordered Tyki as he turned away and charged at the fallen building, colliding right into Wisely as he did so. Lavi watched as the two of them fought, Tyki seemingly getting thrown around like a rag doll while he tried landing a hit on the Noah. His innocence had truly started to synchronize with his body, there was no way it could last much longer. His sync level was already as low as it was, there was no telling when it would exhaust his energy and he would be forced to unleash the true power that slept within, risking his own life. That or to become a fallen. Either way it marked his own death.

Gritting his teeth in anger, fighting the very need to fight beside with the very person that had once been his enemy to do what he had said. It was the only way they would be able to survive, to remain alive another day so that they could do battle with the Earl. Even if it was the cost of one exorcist. It was now a choice between saving the life one as opposed to millions, even if the ending result didn't show until years to come. Residing with this, Lavi grabbed the boy by the arm and yanked him to his feet, not caring that the boy wasn't being complacent. He needed to follow what Tyki had said, even if it turned into a dying wish. Damn martyr.

*&*

Allen was struggling to remain standing, trying desperately to regain his breath. Smoke was stinging his eye, his once white hair now covered in so much soot that it had changed to a ashy grey color. The flames continued licking the buildings around him, their fiery gaze threatening to hypnotize him if he stared at it long enough. The level 4 akuma stood opposite of him, badly damaged and struggling to remain standing, just like himself. Uncharacteristically it hadn't uttered a word their entire fight, not revealing the childish voice it most likely had. That was the only plus to this battle. The major downside to this was that whether or not it was damaged or not, this akuma was still as fast. And that wasn't good.

If he could tap into the Noah powers he had inherited from the 14th when he had revived him what felt like years ago when it had really been only months, he just might be able to defeat it quickly. But the thought of injuring his body beyond repair and binding him to only one spot because of it was something he feared. Not to mention the fact that there could be a possibility that he would try possessing him again.

"_I have no interest in you now you know. I simply want to help. There's no way could possibly possess you from where I am now." _stated the 14th, his voice ever the more distant.

"Then why can you still talk with me? Why can I still use some of your power?" questioned Allen through thoughts, knowing it was alright to trust him but feeling that he shouldn't.

"_Because our minds are linked, whether we like it or not. Despite the fact that I'm dead, I can still communicate with you, but only at a price. I can't talk with you much longer, but keep in mind that there are things you still need to see. Using my gift may be your only option."_ said the 14th, his conscious slipping away to wherever it was it came from. Groaning in anger, Allen re-gripped his sword at the thought of calling onto the power. But it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

Concentrating, he sent his sword back as his arm and began reaching out to the power of the 14th Noah that resided within him. Calling forth a little bit of effort, Allen finally managed to call forth the power and his right arm began morphing into the clawed state similar to the one his left hand was in, the difference being that the colors were inverted. The armored chest plate encased his chest, protecting it from any further damage it could possibly sustain. The power giving him some much needed strength, he charged forward, clawed hands drawn back and ready to strike.

Pouncing onto the akuma just when it was about to swerve out of the way, he began clawing at it like a cat, only this was more effectively say then a cat actually doing it. Ignoring the rapid thrusts, punches, and kicks he was earning from the akuma, Allen thrusted his two clawed hands through the creature's abdomen and began pushing it outward. Gritting his teeth at the amount of effort this was taking and the angry swipe the akuma had made across his face, shattering the feeble mask that had once covered the right side of his face. Ignoring it otherwise, Allen pushed harder and harder until finally, the akuma was split in half.

Grabbing it's head, he dug his claws into its temples and torn it's head off, although it took a lot of effort to do so. Tossing it aside, he watched as the whole body exploded, a cheery laughter following it as it did so. Huffing from the exertion, his strength started ebbing away now that the Noah powers were returning to their dormant state in his mind. Wiping away the blood that was falling into his eyes, Allen fell forward as a wave of battering coughs raked his body. Coughing like he was choking, blood fell in little droplets before his hands, dyeing his hands red.

Wheezing from lack of oxygen, he slowly got to his feet, suddenly alert now that he was hearing the voice of someone approaching. Turning his head, he waited readily for whoever was approaching to emerge from the thick smoke. His body slackened when he realized that it was Lavi who had been speaking, seemingly having called out his name, running up to him out of breath and coughing just as much.

"Allen, we have to go." stated Lavi between coughs, the boy he had been dragging now on his back, unconscious. Allen noticed this but there was still suppose to be another compatible out there and Tyki as well.

"What about the other innocence? The compatible? Where's Tyki?" questioned Allen, not liking the look his best friend was giving him.

"We were too late for the other kid. Wisely got to him first. Tyki is holding him off as long as he can. Come on, we have to go." stated Lavi, going for his arm so that he could use his hammer to get them out. But Allen moved back, giving Lavi an incredulous look. He obviously wasn't going anywhere until Tyki was with them, dead or alive.

"No, you take the kid and get out of here. I need to go get Tyki. Don't wait for us, just get out of here Lavi!" demanded Allen as he began running back to the direction he had seen Lavi come from. The red head watched him go, up to his nose in this stupid display of martyrdom. Nonetheless though, there was no way he could stop either one of them. Nor could he go in after them. He was just going to have to do what he was told and hope for the best. That was he could do.

*&*

Tyki was laying on his back, staring up at the smoky sky. His body was battered and bruised, a pool of blood forming around him as he continued to just lay there. His arms were splayed out, his innocence cracked and at its limit. Any more of this and he was going to get killed by the very thing he had used to fight. Though, it's not like he was going to live either. In every scenario he was playing in his head he ended up dying or getting killed. There was no way around it. One way or another he was going to die here, slowly cooked in the flames until there was nothing but ashes that remained. Wisely was grinning down at him, worse for wear but certainly in a better condition than his adversary.

"You're absence in this war will surely be noted Tyki, but not missed. Your insignificant role in this sacrilegious war shall be extinguished today. Goodbye, Tyki Mikk." taunted Wisely as he looked down at him menacingly, a grin on his face as he turned away, walking away slowly into the burning flames, never to look back. Tyki looked at his disappearing form angrily, wishing that the accursed Noah could have killed him instead of leaving here to burn alive. Oh well, it didn't matter he guessed. He was still going to die anyway. Might as well make the most of it.

"What the hell…" gurgled Tyki through a throat full of blood, shakingly reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out a cigarette. Holding it over a nearby flame, he allowed it to become lit before bringing it to his mouth. Arm falling limply to the ground, he took a long drag of the piece of tobacco/ nicotine filled object before coughing, violent racks running up his body. He struggled to keep the lit object in his mouth, desperate to hold onto this one piece of him that hadn't changed until the very end.

But it was becoming too much. He soon became disgusted with it, the smoke only adding to the burning pain in his lungs and across his eyes, the heat making him dizzy. Taking it out of his mouth, he tossed it aside, already having enough of the cigarette that had lasted no more than 30 seconds. Sighing painfully, he allowed his mind to wander, his eyes soon fogging up as he thought about his previous friends, the one's he had made in his double life. They had been good friends, ones that he had wished on numerous occasions that he could tell them his secret and surely forbidden double life as both a Noah and a vagabond. But it was too late now, he was laying here, dying. There could be no regrets of his previous actions and the ones he had hoped to make.

In his lapse of hallucination and recollection, he could have sworn he had heard his friends calling out his name. But that could not be, he didn't know where they were, much less if they were alive or not. Nonetheless though he turned his head to the side, his eyes lilting up when he thought he was seeing his friends making their way towards him. Tears of joy came to his eyes, slowly falling down his cheeks as he smiled at their supposively real forms. The form was closing in on him, trying to get his attention. But in his delirium he thought it was one of his friends calling out to him, trying to make it to him.

"Tyki…Tyki!" screamed a voice, one that didn't belong to his friends. The haze that had covered his eyes lifted, his expression becoming more alert as he turned his head back up to see that it was Allen who was hovering over him. His friends were gone.

"…car-card shark…" mumbled Tyki as a small smile came onto his face. What was that white haired nuisance doing here? Allen smiled at the given nickname, slowly and pain stackingly pulling Tyki up onto his feet and allowing him to lean against him despite the fact that he wasn't any better than he was. Ignoring the pain that came with Tyki barring all his weight down on him, Allen began moving steadily forward, beads of sweat sliding down his face as he did so.

"I'm supposed to be the martyr here Tyki, don't go biting off more than you can chew." said Allen with a strained laugh following it, coughs accompanying it as well. Tyki stared tiredly at his dragging feet, too tired to reply to the comment. He just wanted to rest, to allow his body to recover and regain the strength it had had before. He just wanted to get some sleep.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to dangerously drift, his body succumbing to his desire to sleep. Sighing, Allen continued to move forward and away from the flames, desperate to make it out of there before he too passed out.

*&*

Lavi was growing ever the more impatient, his desperation growing by the second as he continued pacing back and forth, lost in thought. What if Allen was still looking for Tyki? What if Allen had collapsed? What if they were trapped and needed help? What if they were… He wouldn't allow himself to finish the thought, turning back to look at the smoldering town, the flames and smoke blazing up high.

Hand fingering his hammer, he went to continue his pacing when a flicker in the flames caught his attention. Turning back forward, his stranded his only working eye to catch the image, hoping that it was his friends. Straining some more, he perked up joyfully once he recognized the image that was slowly emerging through the flames before rushing forward. Walking through the fiery red flames was Allen, Tyki leaning on him as he dragged him out of the fire. Both were soot covered, blood and sweat staining their faces that gave them a gruffer look. Tyki was currently out cold, Allen appearing not too far off himself as he stumbled suddenly before falling forward, relief that they had somehow made it out.

Rushing over to them, he caught the two before they fell, almost falling himself with their combined weight bearing down on him. Readjusting his footing, he began pulling them away, towards the clearing he had been waiting in. Though they may be battered and bruised, at least they were alive. And hopefully, they'd be able to stay that way. If only until the end of the Earl.

_Author's Note: Once again, I had no time to polish it (Easter Sunday), I am aware of the mistakes that are scattered around. I was reluctant to update but decided to anyways. Hope it's decent enough and I'll have the next update up when I'm on Spring Break. Bye for now though! Please Review_


	35. Don't leave me

Ch. 35: Don't leave me 

Lenalee sat on the bed she had occupied for last couple or so weeks, her injuries all but healed by now. Though the head nurse was skeptical, wishing to have just one final check up. But Lenalee insisted that she was fine, unaware of the strange delirium she had had the first time she had returned, which still bothered her. Apparently no one knew who had brought her back to the Order, worrying Komui even more besides the fact that she had turned up injured. It worried her even more that Allen wasn't here, causing her to question his whereabouts and whether or not he was ok.

The thought of him all alone in the middle of nowhere, with injuries that could take months to heal fully frightened her. She wanted to leave to go find him as soon as she had healed enough but from what she had gathered, someone had already beaten her to it. It seemed as though Lavi had been sent out to scout the area a couple of days before she had miraculously turned up at the Order. So hopefully he had found him and was with him now, wherever he was.

Sighing sadly, Lenalee got up to her feet and went for the door. But as she did so, a wave of nausea rolled up her body, threatening to send her to the ground. It only lasted no more than a couple seconds though, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, she ignored the weird sensation that she had experienced and left the infirmary. Walking down the barren halls, she made her way into the training grounds, feeling the sudden need to get into shape after a long period of inactivity.

Moving along the halls swiftly, another wave of nausea hit her, though this one was left unnoticed, there and gone before it had a chance to register in her brain. Pushing past a few series of doors and traipsing through mazes of hallways, she finally made it to the training grounds, not surprised to see Kanda there. Sitting on the ragged and cracked floor, he was performing his trademark meditation poise. Breathing in and out slowly and controllably, he didn't even move or flinch as Lenalee made her way her way across the room. She was hoping he wouldn't take noticed her as she began setting up the training dummies but all the noise she was making was starting to get on his nerves.

"Could you possibly be any louder?!" demanded Kanda as he cracked opened his eyes, giving the Chinese teen a grimacing look. She flinched at the way the Japanese was glaring at her, sensing that there was something other than herself ticking the samurai off. I mean more than usual.

"I'm sorry, I just felt like I needed to do some training. What's got you all worked up?" asked Lenalee hesitantly, wanting to know if her friend was alright. Kanda grumbled to himself before actually replying to her question.

"Nothing, I'm just tired of being cooped up here in this goddamn place is all. I'd be nice to go out and do a mission once a while." grumbled Kanda as he stood up onto his feet and stretched, rolling his shoulders as he went for his beloved Mugen.

Pulling it out, he gingerly ran it across his fingers expertly before slashing the air swiftly. Somehow becoming satisfied, he whipped around and sent the katana crashing down upon Krory's hands. Catching it swiftly, Krory's normally timid behavior became overpowered by his darker side, his hair slicking back as his eyes took on a more feral look. The two grinned at each other before jumping back, the two now having their adrenaline fueling them as they prepared for a training session.

Sighing at their display of masculinity and pig headedness, Lenalee went back to setting up the training dummies, situating them around the room so that she could test out her endurance and speed, something she hadn't gauged in a while. She needed to make sure she was at the top of her game, ready for anything that might happen. Though she wasn't much prepared for what she was going to find out some time later.

Activating her Dark Boots with ease, she jumped into the air and did a few flips and sharp turns, testing out her readiness to change directions while in the midst of battle. Somehow getting slightly dizzy, she put a hand to her head as she slowed down and began drifting around pre-carelessly. It wasn't until Kanda yelled at her that she snapped back into reality.

"Oi, watch where you're going woman!" barked Kanda as he twisted out of the way of Lenalee as she drifted over to where he and Krory were sparring. Blocking his sword with her heel, she landed to the floor, giving the older male an apologetic look as she backed away. Krory just smiled as she went back to her dummies, giving her a wave before going back to punching the samurai with blood covered hands.

Turning back to the training dummies, she took a moment to take a deep breath before charging forward, her innocence propelling her forward at a break neck speed. Slamming the heel of her boot into one of the dummies, she shifted all her weight to the side as she sent the dummy flying into another. Jumping into the air, she dove down swiftly, plunging both feet into the head of one of the dummies, sending it clean off its stocky neck. Bouncing back up into the air, she began skipping atop the training dummies, propelling herself higher up into the air once she had demolished all the intact dummies.

Floating in the air tiredly, the room was continuing to spin, unable to stop even though she had finished moving at a top speed. Everything was just spinning out of control, the nausea she had felt before skyrocketing. Vomit rising up her throat, she clamped a hand over her mouth before letting herself fall, unable to keep herself floating in the air any longer. Crashing to the floor like a butterfly after having its wings torn off, she couldn't fight back the bile that had risen up in her throat and vomited onto the floor, collapsing onto her side as she passed out from exhaustion. The last thing she took in was the fact that Kanda and Krory had stopped their sparring and where running over to her, crying out her name as they slid to her side. The rest went blank from there.

+-+

Lenalee slowly sat up, blinking away the blurriness that hung in her eyes as soon as she had opened them. She found herself back in the Infirmary wing, lying atop the very same bed she had occupied the last month and a half. Wiping away the sweat that had beaded onto her face, she looked around, noticing that a curtain had been drawn around her bed, keeping her hidden from wandering eyes. The sound of it being drawn caused her to turn her head, the head nurse entering her little space secluded from the world.

"Oh, you're awake," started the head nurse, a look of nervousness in her eyes as she clutched her clipboard to her breast, walking uncertainly to Lenalee's bedside. Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, she looked into the younger woman's eyes before broaching the subject that she felt needed to be discussed.

"We need to talk," began the older woman as she handed Lenalee the clipboard, watching her features slowly change from confusion to shock, the corners of her eyes tearing up as she looked down at the clipboard in disbelief.

*&*

Lavi watched over Allen and Tyki as they slept, already having bandaged their wounds and made sure they would at least survive the night. The two had taken a toll in this expedition, one that almost cost Tyki his life if it hadn't been for Allen making it to him in time. But it doing so, it had left the young General in an even worse predicament. He had to make sure that, when they had passed out in exhaustion, they were clear of the smoke that lingered in their lungs. Which resulted in him giving them both a few chest pumps before breathing into them so that his oxygen may clear the smoke that clung to their lungs. He wasn't sure how effective that was but at least it was something.

The two of them were lying side by side each other, the two of them littered in bandages and covered with blankets. Tyki had a few wrapped around his chest, a few wrapped around his forehead due to a nasty gash and predominately around his arms, mostly at his hands. He had strained his innocence too much, resulting in his hands being all torn up. The fingernails bearing the crosses were cracked and torn, obviously showing signs of possible damage if it were to become invoked. He needed to have Chief Komui look it over and do any possible repairs that may be needed.

Allen had a nasty gash to his chest, leaving Lavi surprised that it hadn't been causing him pain when he had pulled Tyki out of the fire. He had a few burns here and there, the bulk of his wounds coming from cuts on his arms and shoulders. He had a cut that ran down his cheek where a piece of his half mask had nicked and remained lodged if it had not been for Lavi pulling it out while he was in his slumber. Both were fairly worse for wear but they would heal all together eventually, even if the scars remained.

Sighing, he wrung his blood stained hands in the nearby lake before slowly getting to his feet, running a hand through his hair as he looked to the mute boy. He had not said one word since they got there, rather choosing to remain quiet rather than speak. His head was resting on his knees as his legs remained drawn tight to his chest, his cheeks covered in tear stained tracks, his eyes dull and seemingly lifeless. If it weren't for the steady rise and fall of his chest, he would have figured he died of shock.

He couldn't blame him though, what had happened was pretty traumatic. First off, the entire town was set ablaze and attacked by akuma. Secondly, presumably the entire town was killed by those foul demons, and if not by them then by the flames. And thirdly, if he was correct, the boy had just witnessed a brother or twin of his just murdered by a Noah. But the only way he'd be able to get the connection between the two was if the boy would speak. He'd let him get away with it for now, but eventually, the kid was going to have to talk.

"I'm going to go find us some fire wood. You stay put for the time being." ordered Lavi, giving the boy one final glance before setting off, desperate to create a beating fire that would ward off the darkness that was setting in fast. The boy continued gazing out at nothing, irritating Lavi even more. If he continued this, his grief would be alerting the Earl of their position and they definitely didn't need that. Not while he was the only able exorcist out of the group.

*&*

The boy continued sitting dejectedly, unmoving until something out of the darkness caught his attention. Perking up slightly, he slowly got to his feet, the bow and clutch of arrows remaining tightly gripped in his hands as he began straining his eyes out into the darkness. A fog descended around them, an eerie silence surrounding him. And then all the sudden, an onslaught of shots began firing out at the space he and the others occupied.

Eyes widening, the boy darted away, the akuma trailing after him murderous. He had thought he'd been rid of these creatures once and for all. Why were they still after him? While lost in his thoughts, the boy stumbled and fell from an uprooted root, face planting the ground. Scrapping his knees and tearing his pants, the boy looked up fearfully as the akuma started to draw near, circling around him as they began pointing their cannons at him. Shaking in fear, a sudden anger filled him, his body shaking as he gripping his bow and arrows tighter, an instinct coming over him. One that was fuelled by the yearning for revenge.

Pulling the bow forward, he drew an arrow and pulled it back on the string, the steel barb shooting forward at the nearest demon before becoming encased in light. Sinking into the akuma's mechanical body, the beast stopped for a moment to gaze down at the puny hole that had formed because of it before laughing manically. Then suddenly, it imploded, spraying machinery and blood everywhere. Blood splattering onto his face, the boy drawing another arrow before pulling it back, sending it shooting forward at the next akuma he laid his eyes onto. Soon it became a mad frenzy of arrows shooting off and some returning back to the boy's hands. And with each one, a level 1 akuma fell to his rage.

But they were still coming, each one trying to eradicate him. And he was steadily growing tired, his energy being spent on channeling his power into his innocence. Tears were clouding his eyes by now, his face drawn back in a snarl as he ran back towards the camp, hoping that the annoying red head had returned by now. When he made it back to the clearing, he was dismayed to discover the fact that he still hadn't returned, he was down to one arrow, the other two were still out cold, and he was about to collapse any minute.

Snarling, he collapsed onto his knees before feebly fumbling with the remaining arrow he had desperate as the remaining akuma drew into the clearing. It was now or never. Either he go and allow himself to get killed or he at least tried to go down in a blaze of glory. So as he lifted the bow up one last time, drawing back the only remaining arrow he had, he closed his eyes tight and waited for the right moment to destroy the foul beast. But when he snapped his eyes open, about to release the arrow, the akuma before him exploded, the red head emerging from behind with his hammer drawn. The sight of him caused the boy's once angry expression to waver before he was crying again, his fear of dying getting the best of him as he ran into the arms of Lavi.

"Don't leave me, please! Don't let me die like my brother did. Please…" pleaded the boy, his words soon drowned out behind his sobs as he continued crying into Lavi's chest, his hands clutching the back of his shirt in desperation. Lavi relaxed as he bent down to the boy's level, his eye softening as he kept the boy steady by holding onto his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you…"

"Thomas…my name is Thomas."

"I won't let anything happen to you Thomas. And that's a promise. You'll be safe as long as you stick with us. We'll take you to a place that will keep you safe and protected." addressed Lavi as he enveloped the boy in a warm hug, trying to convey that he was here to protect him and he would do everything in his power to do so.

_Author's Note: I know this chapter is mostly rushed and sucks and all but please don't hate me because of it. But in my defense, it was getting late when I did this and I'm just getting desperate to end this already. This one was slow to do, it'll pick up by the next chapter, I promise. In the kindness of your hearts, please review. Even if it's to bring this chapter down, just review. _


	36. The Return Home

Ch. 36: The Return Home

Lavi had gotten to learn about Thomas as the Allen and Tyki remained incapacitated, learning more than he had wished to know. Like about a time when he and his twin brother, Dean, use to sneak into these woods just because their mother didn't like them to. Or when he had accidentally set the family cat on fire. He was telling him things that he otherwise wouldn't ask about or just didn't care to know, but he amused him by pretending that he did. This really cheered the boy up, making him feel like he had someone to actually talk to him and understand. Just like his brother had before he was…

"What's your family like Lavi?" asked Thomas, his brightening up at the thought of learning the red head's history after he had shared his. Lavi sighed and exhaled a breath before giving the boy, who he had learned was 12, a tired smile. This kid was going to talk him to death at this rate. Funny, how he had wished the kid would talk in the beginning but now he was wishing more than anything that the kid would just shut up for a while.

"Well I don't…my family is back at the place I told you about, back in the Order. It's filled with all kinds of people that look out for me and I look out for them. And they'll take care of you too, because you're going to become a part of that family too, once we get there." answered Lavi, the boy looking away sadden as he drew his legs tighter against his chest.

"What if they don't want me to become a part of their family? What if they won't want me because I survived while…while my brother didn't?" choked Thomas, fresh tears running down his cheeks as he said this. This night has been one emotional roller coaster ride for the kid. Lavi had learned that his parents had originally wanted to have only one son. But instead, they got two, and Dean was the oldest. Therefore he wasn't treated as well as his brother had been. He wasn't loved as much as Dean had been. He had been the only one in his family to appreciate him and actually love him unlike his parents. They had been best friends till the end; the fact that his brother, the one most desired, was gone must have upset him. He probably still thought that he wouldn't be liked as much as his brother would've.

"Don't worry, you'll know once we get there that they have a very big heart and that they'll always be someone there to greet you with a smile every time we come back from missions like this. You won't be alone in a place like the Order, trust me." reassured Lavi as he gave the boy a cheeky smile. Seeing his smile made Thomas smile, if only a little. At least he'd have someone like Lavi to look after him.

"Thank you Lavi…"

"No problem little brother, we've got to look after each other during times like these."

Being called a little brother by Lavi made Thomas's smile widened a little, his words reminisce to how Dean would address him sometimes. It only served to make him feel better. The two didn't say a word after that, the lulling effects of the fire starting to take their toll and before long, the two were fast asleep. Both drifting off into their own little worlds where no one but themselves could enter.

*&*

As soon as Allen opened his eyes, he could automatically sense something was happening. Lifting his head up slowly and cautiously, he spied the boy unwrapping some bandages that were wrapped around his arms, gingerly replacing the stained ones with a roll of fresh clean ones. The boy fumbled a little with the bandages but otherwise was doing fairly well for someone who was new to the battle field.

Noticing his patient was awake, the boy stepped back in surprise and shock, not expecting the white haired young man to be awake with such severe wounds. Allen gave him a feeble smile before sitting up, coughing slightly do to somewhat damaged lungs. Second hand smoke was just as bad, if not worse, as first hand smoke. It just so happened to be from a fire rather than a smoker.

"It's nice to see that you're safe. What's your name?" asked Allen between coughs, Thomas hesitantly going back to changing his bandages.

"It's Thomas sir. I just like to say thank you for saving the man that avenged my brother's death. It meant a lot to me Mr. Exorcist." answered Thomas, a look of gratitude in his eyes.

"The name's Allen. Allen Walker. I see you're a compatible with the innocence. And I'm assuming your brother was as well. I'm sorry for your lost, he will not be forgotten by God, rest assure." Allen said as he gave the younger boy's hair a tousle before getting to his feet. His shoulders and arms ached but otherwise he was fine. He turned to see Tyki still out of it, Lavi finishing his work before turning to see Allen awake and standing.

"How is he?" Allen asked. "Is he going to be alright."

"For the most part yeah, but I think it's better that we return back to the Order. There he can get a proper examination instead of settling with my mediocre skills."

"But how are we going to do that? We're about a week away from the Order as it is. We might not make it in time."

"Simple, we'll use my hammer. We'll make it there in half the time if we leave right now." replied Lavi as he hosted Tyki over his shoulder and pulled out his hammer. Enlarging and extending it, he mounted his weapon and looked to the other two expectantly. Allen and Thomas looked at him worryingly, hesitant to get on a thing that Lavi was controlling. But before they had a chance to argue, Lavi pushed off, forcing the two of them to chase after the flying hammer so that they could get a spot for the ride. It was in fact a long way to run.

*&*

Traveling by hammer only took them three days. In which point Tyki finally woke up but only for brief moments, only to get some water and a very small bite to eat before falling back into unconsciousness. This didn't seem good and it also serve to hasten them in their journey to make it home. But eventually they did, the Order's headquarters coming into view around midday on the third day.

Allen's heart and spirits rose, the thought of seeing Lenalee again after about a month and a few weeks bringing joy to the white-haired General's features. I couldn't wait to see her and hold her in his arms, to see her smile he so desperately missed. But then the Earl would come to mind, his master's words only reminding him that he should be worrying about the downfall of the Earl instead of Lenalee. But without her, he would just fall apart. Without her, his world would seize to existence. That's why he made a very important decision before they made it back to the Order.

"Don't wait for me Lavi, I'll be back. If you see Lenalee, tell her that she needs to meet me at the entrance tonight. I have something important to tell her." stated Allen as he jumped off the hammer and fell to the town below, leaving Lavi momentarily speechless before barely nodding a yes as he disappeared. Sighing, a smile came upon his face as he thought about his love stricken friend's words. Something tells him that something big was going to happen tonight.

+_+

Carrying Tyki over one shoulder and leading Thomas down the magnificent halls belonging to the Order, they were unfortunate enough to have Kanda be the first person that greeted them. And it didn't help that he was carrying a former Noah over his shoulder, something the Order was unaware of at the present moment. So when he spotted them, he was immediately on the defensive, charging into Lavi and knocking Tyki clean off him.

"Wow Yu, I didn't know you missed me that much."

"Shut it baka usagi! Can't you see you've brought a Noah here to base, you idiot!" barked Kanda as he drew Mugen and pointed the blade threatening at the incapacitated former Noah, unaware of the fact that he was no longer a Noah.

"Your words of endearment are making me blush Yu. Anyways, I hate to break it to you but Tyki isn't a Noah anymore. He's an exorcist, just like you and me. And look, we've even found another one." stated Lavi as he pulled himself to his feet, hand pressed against Thomas's back as he distracted Kanda by showing him Thomas while slowly making his way over to Tyki. But he was so easily tricked as he turned back to Tyki then to Lavi, eyeing them both with his sharp eyes before stomping off, clearly pissed that there wasn't going to be a fight like he had originally hoped.

"Who was that?"

"Oh that, that's Yu-chan but if you want to live then you might want to just call him Kanda." replied Lavi as he picked Tyki up once more and began leading the newest apostle along.

Thomas seemed to be gawking at everything. From the gothic like pillars to the passing finders, he was staring in awe. Never had he seen an organization seemingly so prepared to combat evil before. He had just thought stories of this organization were mere rumors, fables meant to be told as bedtime stories to kids who were afraid. But being here, actually seeing it all told him that this was real. And that he was going to be a part of it.

In the beginning, the thought of being an exorcist frightened him, leaving him wondering if he could actually be someone's savior like Tyki and Lavi had been for him. But seeing all these people dedicated to this one cause and the inescapable image of his town burning to the ground acted as a new found resolve. He would become an exorcist, just so that the boys and girls his age wouldn't have to suffer the pain he had went through. And to also make their lives that the more brighter. Even if his didn't turn out that way.

Their first stop was the infirmary, where they would drop Tyki off. Well, at least try. As soon as they had entered the wing, they were stopped by Komui himself, who looked to the party in confusion then bewilderment, choosing to know what the hell was going on instead of beating around the bush.

"Um Lavi…WHY IN GOD'S NAME DID YOU BRING A NOAH TO HEADQUARTERS!?!?!" demanded Komui. I guess someone forgot to get their coffee this morning.

"Calm down chief, he's one of us now. Look, in the beginning, I didn't either but I saw him fight a Noah. I saw him invoke an innocence fragment that's embedded in his middle finger fingernail. He's an apostle of God now, whether you believe it or not." explained Lavi as he pushed passed Komui and placed him on one of the empty beds.

"And Allen's already deemed him as his apprentice. We also found Thomas, another apostle, but he's currently in need of a master."

"I guess we'll attach him to the Zokalo unit, seeing as how he is currently without a disciple." He said with a hand to his chin, Lavi sweat dropping at the thought of Thomas becoming an apprentice to psycho like Zokalo. "Speaking of Allen, where is he? I figured he'd be with you if you were to return."

"He said he had something to do before he came back but don't worry, if you need him he should be somewhere in town. Doing what, I don't know. Though he should be back tonight, coming from the northern entrance." stated Lavi as some nurses came to tend to Tyki's wounds, emphasizing some words as soon as he noticed a violet eyed General out of the corner of drawn curtains around one of the beds. Stepping aside, he watched them go for a moment before turning back to Komui, the Chief nodding before motioning for the two of them to follow him.

Rubbing his slightly bearded chin, Lavi hung back a moment to look over his shoulder. Smiling at Lenalee, mouthed the words 'don't worry' to her, earning a relived smile on her part before catching up with the other two. Stepping out from behind the curtain, she took a moment to look at Tyki before averting her gaze downward, a small smile playing on her lips before she proceeded to exit the infirmary, her thoughts circulating around what she had discovered prior to Komui checking up on her.

*&*

Lenalee stood waiting expectantly at the northern entrance, just like Lavi had hinted at. It was starting to get a little chilly, the wind pulling her hair in its cool breeze. The sun was sinking fast, threatening to disappear into the ocean that surrounded the cliff headquarters was currently situated on. The scenery was nice, but it would also be nicer if she could share it with Allen. After all, days like this didn't come all too often. And, she had something very important to tell him.

Shifting her weight from the tip of her toes to the balls of her feet, she waited with waning patience as the sun sank completely into the ocean abyss and away from accusing eyes. Letting out a sigh, she went to turn back in when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her midsection, causing her to become strangely alert, conscious and fearful as she turned around and sent a punch on the unsuspecting Allen, sending sprawling to the floor. Upon noticing it was her beloved she gasped, a hand running to her mouth in an attempt to stifle her gasp.

"Wow, next time I should alert you it's me before I go about trying something like that again." chuckled Allen sheepishly as he rubbed his cheek while Lenalee pulled him to his feet. Before she had a chance to apologize, she felt his warm lips on hers and his gloved covered hands moving into her hair, the electric sensation that sparked whenever they kissed not failing to show itself. It was passion filled, as always, but also soft and gentle. It was so sensual that she feared that if it lasted any longer she would lose sight of what she needed to tell him. But then he pulled away, bringing her back to the moment and to what she had to tell him.

But as she went to form the words, he grabbed her by the hand and began leading her away over to the overhanging cliff, his hand gripping tightly over hers. It was there that the two of them watched the glittering rays of the moon hit the expansive sea, listening to the sound of the crashing waves hitting against the rocky base. Taking in a deep breath of the salty air, Lenalee subconsciously let her head rest against Allen's shoulder, sighing in contentment. It was moments like these that she wished could last forever. Moments like these that she wished she could experience every day, especially now in her current condition. Hearing Allen clearing his throat reminded her that she had to tell him and now.

"I have to tell you something!" blurted the two of the simultaneously at the same time, the two of them turning to face each other as they said this. This caused them both to blush, the two of them turning away from each other before trying again. But all they got was the same result.

"You first!" Both of them let out a sigh. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Alright, you first Allen." said Lenalee to the exasperated Allen as he straightened up. It was then that she noticed that he wasn't in his exorcist uniform. Instead he was in a collared shirt, the long cotton sleeves rolled up this elbows. He was in a nice pair of slacks, his all purpose boots stopping at his calves. His white hair was glowing silver in the moon light, the shoulder length locks drawn back into a low and haphazard ponytail. The half mask he normally wore on the right side of his face was missing, a cut covered by bandages replacing it instead. Then a thought struck her.

"You're hurt!"

"No, no I'm fine. It's just a couple of scratches and bruises. Nothing I can't survive from my love." soothed Allen as he held her hand within his own. The look she gave didn't seem thoroughly convinced, but she let the matter slide. For now at least.

"Now, what do you have to say that's so important?" started Lenalee, waiting for him to get the conversation rolling before she could gather enough courage to tell him about…

"Oh…umm…I love you–" started Allen, clearly flustered as he looked to his feet and began rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah…I love you too Allen…"

"I know…" Allen said dreamily, his showing his deep affection for her before he shook his head, remembering that he had something important to ask her though the affection in his eyes still remained. "No, wait, I mean…Lenalee, I love you so much. More than anything. And sometimes it's so much it hurts. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really and truly love you, like no one else in the world. No one has ever spurred these feelings I have inside me before. I know we're undeniably connected to each other because of the heart and we were our firsts in all, but that's not why I'm about to do this.

"You are the most important person to me, the one person I couldn't live without, no matter how hard I try. And I know we're young, you just being 17 and me being 16, but I can't help but fear that maybe we don't have that much time left in this world. But I don't care about being proper or not or what people might think. I love you and that should be all that matters."

Sucking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes as he bowed his head, trying to stay cool as one hand went into his front pocket on his pants. Withdrawing it slowly, he kept the object hidden within his grasp as exhaled slowly. Then, getting down to one knee, he revealed to her the velvet box that had been hidden in his hands. Her eyes widened at this, a gasp escaping her lips while tears began rolling down her cheeks as Allen opened the small book, revealing a small yet intricate diamond ring sitting in the center.

"Lenalee, will you marry me?"

Lenalee stood there in shock, unable to stop the tears from continuing to roll down her cheeks. She was speechless, seemingly out of words to say even though she had a few that came to mind. But she also wanted him to know the very thing she had discovered only yesterday, the very thing she was still unable to truly accept. So when she didn't answer right away, whether be yes or no, Allen started to worry. Getting to his feet, he looked to her worryingly, putting away the ring in favor of holding her by the shoulders. She continued crying, what had once been tears associated with join now seemed to be out of sadness, which caused Allen's grip of desperation to tighten.

"What's wrong? Lenalee, you know you can tell me anything." encouraged Allen, fear in his eyes as he looked to her in desperation. He knew he would be selfish if he said he wanted to hear her say 'yes' but he pushed that aside as he waited for her to reveal what was wrong.

"I'm…I'm pregnant…"

At this Allen stumbled, grip slackening from around her shoulders as his arms fell to his sides. He stared at her for a moment, confused, before suddenly and somewhat uncharacteristic of him, he fainted.


	37. Dead Man

Ch. 37: Dead Man

By the time Allen came to Lenalee was hovering over him, her tear stained face looking down at him fearfully before perking up as soon as she noticed Allen regain conscious. A look of relief came upon her face as he slowly sat up, the bewildered look he had before still on his face. This did not help, which caused the waterworks to return. But no one could really blame her, her hormones were going out of control and it didn't help that her boyfriend, or fiancé, or whatever the hell he was at the moment didn't seem to accept her. You wouldn't be able to stop yourself from having a breakdown if you were in her shoes. 17 years old, pregnant, and now waiting for her lover to past verdict on her.

Meanwhile Allen was in shock, his expression still harboring his bewilderment while his gaze became distant as he began imagining all the ways he would die. And all of them had one thing in common: Komui. But he had to snap out, no matter how traumatizing they may be, he needed to quit thinking of himself and of Lenalee. Shaking his head towards her, he stiffened at the sight of her. She had since turned away from him, her face cupped into her hands as she continued crying. Shame washed over him at the sight of his beloved, broken and nearly shattered. How could he be so stupid and selfish. After all, he was the one who did this to her, wasn't he?

"Is…is it…mine?" stammered Allen as he sheepishly tried to get a conversation flowing. It was a rather stupid question though one he felt needed to be answered. I mean, if it wasn't his then who's could it be? Lenalee looked up from her hands, shock written on her face as she digested the question.

"What?" choked Lenalee, needing to here the question again just to make sure she heard it right.

"The baby…is it…is it mine?"

"Yes! Who else do you think it could be?!" yelled Lenalee, enraged that he would think of her that way. She wasn't a whore who reveled in having sex with many men. He had been her first and only time at sex, there was no denying that he was the father. Her sharp words caused Allen to flinch, having unintentionally gotten her upset, again. Poor, poor Allen, oblivious to the fact that pregnant women, albeit 1 month or 9, were people you didn't want to upset. Because then it can very much become the equivalency of hell.

"And now because of it you won't love me anymore and my baby will end up becoming a bastard because of it." continued Lenalee, unable to control what she said that should otherwise be left unspoken. Needless to say though, this upsetted Allen, his ounce of anger pushing back the anxiety he felt before as he began, stupidly, yelling at her. This wasn't going to help.

"Hey! Who said anything about me not loving you anymore or even leaving you alone to take care of our child?! Lenalee, I want to be there for you but you're going to have to stop pushing me away."

"Yeah, and what makes you say that?! Men are all the same! They care about nothing more than having sex and then leaving them to fend for themselves as soon as they become pregnant!" hollered Lenalee, her hormones on a full rampage now.

Sighing angrily, he looked the other way, unable to take the full brunt of her harsh words any longer. Clearly something was wrong with her thought Allen as he glared down to the ground, his fist slowly clenching the grass he sat on. This wasn't how he picture this night would pane out. At least, not with them arguing with each other over something as beautiful as this.

"Listen…"

"No, I won't listen to someone who's a fucking liar and doesn't care about me anymore!"

"LISTEN TO ME LENALEE!!!" bellowed Allen, his frame shaking in anger and a hint of sorrow as he looked to her with desperate eyes. At this, she stopped speaking, her eyes once again wielding up with tears as she hung her head in shame. She was just realizing now that she might've gone just a little too far in her ranting. Just a little.

Noticing that she had stopped countering his honest statements for the time being, he allowed a single tear to slid down the side of his face before he embraced her, his lips pressing firmly over hers. And instantly things intensify, Allen's hands running through her hair as he continued to greedily kiss her, struggling against the urge to pull her shirt off. This only worsen when he heard a soft moan roll up her throat. So the only thing he did to compromise this was bite her lower lip, running his tongue along the surface afterwards. Although it wasn't much of a compromise

Soon enough though, things were starting to get a little too out of control, especially for the point he was trying to make. He was now atop of her, keeping her pinned to earthy floor as he continued kissing her, his hands running up and down her lushes' body. She could be said doing the same with him, her hands feeling him all over. But suddenly, when things could've gotten too far, it ended. Rolling away from atop of her and to the ground, panting heavily, he turned his head to look at her. She did the same, her eyes puffy and her cheeks tear stained. They stared at each for a moment, both regaining their breath before they said anything else. Sitting up once more, he watched as she did the same, the two of them still staring at each other despite the fact that they had regained their breath by now.

"Lenalee…I love you. Nothing is going to change that. And you know what, I'll love our baby just as much as I love you. I'm not going to leave you, ever. Not if I can stop it."

"Really?" asked Lenalee as her expression softened and her eyes glistened with the onslaught of tears for the umpteenth time that night.

"Of course. Nothing will make me more happier than knowing that you're carrying my child. Well, maybe seeing my beautiful butterfly smile just might." said Allen innocently, instantly winning Lenalee over. Throwing herself into his chest, her arms wrapping around his neck as she buried her face into the crook of his neck, her sobs muffled against him. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close, resting his head atop of hers as he allowed her to cry her eyes out. It was all sort of overwhelming but he pushed it aside, favoring to be with her instead of allowing himself to freak out.

"So…is that a yes?"

"hmm?" mumbled Lenalee, not bothering to look up.

"Will you marry me Lenalee Lee?" reminded Allen, holding his breath as he waited for her answer. Instead she laughed into his shirt, digging her head into his neck before nodding it up and down, giving him her answer. Beaming with joy, he pulled the velvet box back out and delicately plucked the ring from its place in the box and gingerly slipped it onto her ring finger on her left hand. Smile softening as his eyes became half lidded, he proceeded to place his head back on top of hers, giving the top of her head a kiss before resting his chin on her soft silky hair.

Sniffing now, Lenalee pulled back as she began wiping her eyes, turning around so that she could lean into him. Now with her back against his chest, he brought his arms down to her waist, giving her midsection a gentle squeeze as he pulled her closer to him. Sliding his head off hers and down to her shoulder, he let a sigh as he stared out into the distance, the moon elegantly beautiful as it reflected it's rays off the ocean. The stars shone brightly in the sky that night, adding to the beauty that did not seem to revival that of his beloved.

The two of them remained quiet after that, the two of them watching the distance as the night continued to remain young. Though this was surely a rocky start, they would make it through this. And this time, together.

*&*

Allen woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Groaning, he tried ignoring it but the persistency was too much for him to bear. Sitting up, he exhaled a breath as he began rubbing the back of his head, wondering how he had gotten to his room. Then it came rushing back. His proposal to Lenalee, him finding out that she was pregnant, the fight, and the makeup just in time. Somewhere along the way he must have returned to his room, and had brought Lenalee with him.

Shifting his gaze downward, he smiled as his love continued sleeping beside him, her petite form just beckoning him to lay back down next to her. But whoever was at door continued to knock, unwilling to leave until they got an answer from him. Sighing, he reluctantly got up, not wanting the person, whoever it was, to wake Lenalee up. Opening the door, he froze, his eyes widening a fraction before sinking back to how they normally were, his whole body starting to sweat. No, he wasn't ready, he needed a little more time before he confronted…HIM.

Standing at his door was none other than Chief Komui Lee himself.

"Allen, have you seen my dear sweet Lenalee anywhere? She's not her room and she should've been in the infirmary from what I understand."

"I…I…no-um…" stuttered Allen, inching the door closed little by little as he took up the entire space of the door frame. With an answer like this, Komui wasn't thoroughly convinced, especially with these subtle hints proving otherwise.

Nodding slowly, he went to ask some more questions when a bark from the distance caught both of their attentions. Turning their head at the sound, they were soon seeing white fur as Bai, Allen's dog, came and threw himself onto Allen. Knocking him to the floor, he began licking his face like there was no tomorrow. Stifling giggles, he struggled to push the medium sized puppy dog off him before Timcampy joined the fray, his fairly large golden form nuzzling into his cheek. But this little act gave Komui an insight of his room and his eye immediately fell to his bed, where Lenalee continued to remain sound asleep.

Stiffening, it seemed as if steam was issuing from his ears, his head appearing to be on the verge of spinning in a complete circle. Oh shit. Pushing his companions off of him, Allen started scooting out into the hall, praying the Komui wouldn't notice him. But sadly, he did, and let's just say he wasn't all to happy.

"Allen…" seethed Komui as he slowly stalked Allen, somehow pulling out his mighty drill out of thin air. Allen continued looking up in fear, running out of space to scoot back too quickly.

"Why is Lenalee in your room? You weren't taking away her purity were you?" continued Komui in a deathly calm voice that scared Allen to the core. This man was going to kill him!

"Um…well, no–" replied Allen meekly, telling the truth but not sounding all that convincing.

"YOU WERE!!!!!! OH, YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN AFTER I'M FINISHED WITH YOU, YOU WHITE-HAIRED DEMON!!!!!!!" cried Komui as he started up his drill, Allen getting enough sense to start running by now. If he reacted like this in finding out she had slept with him in his bed, without even doing sex, then there was no telling how furious he'd be when he found out the rest. He was doomed.

Running for his dear life, Allen must've circled that whole building at least 5 times, only stopping once to catch his breath. But by then he was trying to outrun both Komui and his pack of Komurin, all of which seemed to pop out of nowhere. Eventually he had enough sense to go outside and hide in the forest, the place he knew he would be safe in. But unfortunately, Kanda was there and he was none all to happy to be sharing his forest with someone like him.

"Kanda, please I have to hide!" he pleaded with the samurai. "Komui's trying to kill me."

"Go away moyashi, I'm trying to meditate. And I can't do that with you breathing down my neck!" growled Kanda.

"But–"

"No buts moyashi! Now get the hell out of my damn forest!"

"Since when were you queen of the forest?"

"SINCE I SAID SO!!!" barked Kanda as he grabbed Allen by the collar of his shirt and with all his might, threw Allen so that he was far away from him. And surprisingly he sent him airborne, flying back to the Order.

Yelping as he fell to the floor and rammed into the entrance, he rubbed his neck before freezing as soon as a shadow fell over him. Breath hitching, he hesitantly looked up to see Komui looming over him, breathing heavily like a bull getting ready to charge. Swallowing nervously, he back-flipped out of the just in time as Komui sent his massive drill downwards at him. Spinning on one hand, he fell to his feet and began running away once more, a new plan coming to mind as he did so.

But before he had a chance to carry out his plan, a humongous Komurin came busting through one of the walls, extending a mechanical hand out. Wrapping itself around him, it proceeded to send him ramming into the intact wall, knocking the wind out of him. Gritting his teeth in pain as the robot continued to squeeze his entire chest cavity, he slammed into the opposite wall and this time repeatedly.

"I have you now you white haired devil disguised as an exorcist. Prepare to be stripped away of all that is your manhood Allen Walker." yelled Komui threw a blow horn, pressing a big red button that opened doors inside the Komurin. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, his jaw dropped as he noticed little robots in the shape of Komui himself chanting as they wielded medical instruments, all of them having an evil glint in their robotic eyes. Oh God not this again.

"Help! Someone help me!! KOMUI'S TRYING TO KILL ME!!!!" screamed Allen, resorting to pleading now that he was trapped and struggling to free himself from his fated torment and torture.

"Nii-san…what are you doing?"

The two of the stopped, averting their gaze over to the side to see Lenalee standing beside her brother, tired expression on her face. She did not look all to happy that someone had woken her from her sleep.

"Ah Lenalee! I was just–" started Komui, his voice faltering as he watched her free Allen from the confines of the mechanical fist. Setting him down beside them, a nervous air surrounded them as Allen hid behind Lenalee, Lenalee stood with her crossed against her chest, and Komui debating on whether or not he should do something. But surely he couldn't, not with his dear sister standing in the way. He didn't want to hurt her, he just wanted to strangely the white haired demon she was protected is all. It was then that he noticed the shiny stone that was on her finger.

"Lenalee, why do you have a ring on your finger? Please tell me that's not what I think it is." said Komui, his voice wavering as he took a few steps back, his face paling. No, it couldn't be. His worst fears couldn't be becoming true. This had to be a sweet dream gone wrong!

"Yes nii-san, there's no use hiding this from you. Allen proposed to me last night." She said, her face brightening up as she clasped Allen's hand, preventing him from getting a head start. He wasn't liking where this was going, not in the least. Turning her head to look at him, her expression changed to one that was trying to make a decision, one that he hoped wasn't what he thought it was.

"Should we tell him?"

"Tell me what?" asked Komui with uncertainty, seeing as how Allen was shaking his head no so hard that it seemed like his head was going to fall off any second. But this didn't count for anything, seeing as how she decided to tell him anyways.

"I'm not really sick, I'm just pregnant with Allen's child." answered Lenalee with a smile on her face, joy showing on her face as opposed to Komui's shock.

As soon as he heard this, his body turned stark white, his mouth left open as it began choking behind words he could not say, his hair standing on end. He remained like that for a moment before he finally managed to utter a single, piercing cry. The wailing sound that issued from his lip quickly grew in volume that the windows that surrounded splintered into millions of shards, the birds outside fluttering away in fear due to the strange sound. Kanda, still in the nearby forest, had to clamp his hands over his ears just so that he could concentrate on his training.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALLEN WALKER!!!!! THEN I'M GOING TO SEE TO IT MYSELF THAT YOU COME BACK FROM HELL JUST SO THAT I CAN KILL YOU AGAIN FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" cried Komui as he chased after Allen, who had by now extracted himself from Lenalee's tight grip and was running for his dear life. If this wasn't hell, then he didn't know what was.

"Hmph, serves him right for making me cry so much yesterday. I think I'll go get something to eat before I go saving Allen again." muttered Lenalee as she watched the trail of smoke that was left from the two of them running quickly away. Smiling, she began traipsing through the rubble that littered the floor, head her way to the cafeteria, leaving Allen to fend for himself once more.

_Author's Note: Yeah, I know but I just couldn't help myself. This will probably be the one and only time I have the f-word in this story, or any of my stories for that matter. I had to do it, it was just too much. And sorry bout the whole constant crying thing, but she's overwhelmed and her hormones are jacked up. What would you have me do? Please review._


	38. We need to Talk

Ch. 38: We need to Talk

No one heard or saw head or tail of Allen for three days. At first she didn't worry about it, thinking that it was just because he was hiding from Komui. But by the end of the second day, when it seemed as though Komui had given up trying to find him for the time being did Lenalee start to worry. And that worry soon turned into panic, forcing her to ask everyone and anyone if they've seen Allen. Tyki just ended up being the unlucky fellow who got dragged into it.

He was laying in his bed, plotting a means of escape so that he didn't have to be badgered by that psycho nurse, when Lenalee came bursting in. Frantic, she turned to the first person she laid her eyes on. And that just so happen to be Tyki.

"Have you seen Allen?"

"Um…no I can't say I have actually." replied Tyki as he continued staring at her as she did the same. He was waiting for her to hit him, yell at him, or something, just because he had once been a Noah. But instead she said nothing, biting her lower lip as she mulled something over.

"Will you help me look for him. It's just that, everyone else is busy and you seem to be doing nothing at the moment."

"Sure, why not! I'll just go and step out of this bed like I'm fit as a horse just so that I can help you out." replied Tyki sarcastically as he began getting out of the bed, revealing to Lenalee the many scars that covered his body, both old and new. Grunting slightly, he slipped on a rob over his bare upper body and turned to Lenalee, stiffening when he noticed that her head was bowed, her bangs obscuring his view of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were hurt. It's ok, I'll just go ask someone else to help me instead."

"No, wait! I'll help you look for card shark. Sorry if I came off a little crossed, I've just been dying to get out of this bed for the past two days," He apologized, giving her a smirk as soon as she smiled.

"Now then, should we be going after card shark now?" asked Tyki as he outstretched a hand in a gesture showing that she should lead the way. Nodding, she sped away, Tyki barely able to keep up with the pace she was going in.

*&*

Allen sat in the kitchen, hidden in a corner so that he wouldn't get in the way or be seen by that psycho Komui. Time had lost all meaning there, only the thoughts of survival mattered. That and to satisfy his ever present hunger. Why wouldn't this be the best place to hide in? At first he had been afraid that this would be the first place that he'd look but it didn't seem like he even went into the kitchen. He just asked Jerry whether or not he'd see him and when he said no, Komui was gone. But that was also two days prior.

"Thanks Jerry, you don't know how much I appreciate this." He said as Jerry passed him for the umpteenth time that day. It was getting close to closing time.

"No problem sugar! But when are you going to tell me why you're here? If you don't then I'm just going to have to think of a reason and soon enough the whole Order will be talking about it."

"Eh…I'm sorry but it's kind of personal and private…"

"Tell me more honey!"

"I can't, it's up to Lenalee–"

"Oh, it's got something to do with Miss Lenalee now? This is gold, sugar. Keep going!" beckoned Jerry as Allen slapped himself at the realization that he might have given a portion of the reason away and because of his stupidity.

"You know I think I'll shut up now."

"Ah your no fun Allen. Fine, suit yourself. I'll figure out your dirty little secret sooner or later. But until then, I'll just have to settle with an icky rumor now won't I?" he said as he went back to putting away the leftover food while tossing him a couple of drumsticks. Great, he was to some extent being black-mailed and now he was using chicken as bribery.

So to insure that he didn't say anything else that might reveal the news currently kept a secret by himself, Lenalee, and Komui, he stuffed his mouth with the drumstick, chewing on it annoyed. Once that was devoured, he tossed the bone aside, leaving Bai and Timcampy to fight over it. Sighing, he bit off a chunk of the other before looking at in disgust. Somehow, he wasn't very hungry anymore.

Tossing it to the two instead, Allen pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, mulling over the previous day's events. He, Allen Walker, was now the fiancé of Lenalee Lee, his love. But, he also was going to become a father. A…father…at 16. He wasn't ready for this, at least, not in these current circumstances. If he wasn't living in a time where there was an evil out loose in the world, then he probably would be jumping with joy, despite the fact that he was still young. But...he didn't even have the first clue about being a father.

"Allen!"

Said person perked up, crawling over to the counter before slowly peeking over the counter to see Lenalee calling out his name, Tyki beside her while sitting on one of tables with his arms folded across his chest as he waited for her to move on. Taking a moment to see if Komui was hiding or even there, Allen slowly stood once discovering that no one else was there besides the three of them. Slowly walking over to them, he stepped out of the shadows and soon found himself in Lenalee's tight embrace. Chuckling despite himself, he looked past her to see Tyki snort, his head turning away from the two of them. Maybe this wasn't exactly what he had had in mind when he thought of getting out of bed for a while.

"What's a matter? Nothing's wrong is it?!" asked Allen, his tone becoming panicked as he looked down at her stomach even though there wasn't any change from what it normally was. The look of worry on his face made her giggle.

"Well you've been gone for almost three days silly." She said before leaning in close so that she could whisper, "It's only been a month the Head Nurse said. Nothing to worry about right now."

"Ok, that's good. And, uh, sorry about that. I just didn't want to be murdered by Komui in my sleep, heh."

"Ugh, you too haven't even kissed and I'm already sick to my stomach. See you two later, I think I hear that nurse calling my name." said Tyki as he walked off, not caring about their response as he exited the cafeteria. The two of them watched him go, Lenalee staring at his retreating form intensely.

"Say, why is Tyki Mikk here?"

"That is a fairly long story, my love. But we've got time to catch up. Come on, I'm pretty sure we can find a balcony with our names written on it and then I'll tell you all about it."

He smiled and offered his arm to her, which she gladly accepted and the two of them began journeying through the Order in search for the perfect spot where they could simply talk. Allen's worry about becoming a father and about Komui seemed to disappear until said man came walking towards them. Instantly Allen tensed up, stopping on the spot. When he came up to them though, he stopped, his gaze intense as he stared at Allen. When he turned to Lenalee, his expression softened before he turned his head away, as if he was unable to look at her in the eyes.

"Excuse me, I've got some work that needs to be done." said Komui in a solemn voice, his head bowed as he moved past them.

"Nii-san…" uttered Lenalee, Komui stopping for a moment before walking away, breaking Lenalee's heart.

*&*

"He's mad at me, he's mad at ME! That's what it is." ranted Lenalee as she paced back and forth in front of Allen, who was sitting on the railing of the balcony they stood on. He watched worriedly, still a little surprise by this whole switch in emotions. First then she had been sad, then scared, then sad some more, and now was upset.

"Calm down Lenalee, everything will be alright. He just needs to get use to the idea first. You know his biggest fear is seeing you get married."

"Yeah but he's being a little pig headed about this and it was really your fault. I mean, there's no reversing this. I'm pregnant whether he likes or not. And I'm not going to turn down your proposal just for his feelings. I love you Allen."

'_Well you were the one that practically begged me to do it.'_ "Look, if it helps, I'll go talk to him." said Allen despite the fact that he was reveling in Komui currently ignoring him. It meant that he could live longer!

"Oh Allen, don't be silly. He'd just about kill you." retorted Lenalee as she stopped from her pacing to stroke his cheek, saying it like it was nothing. This didn't help.

"Um…ok. Well, I'm going to chance it because as much as I'm enjoying this, I wouldn't want to see you two on bad terms. Especially when it's because of me." He said as he pulled her hand away from his cheek and brought her fingers to his lips before jumping down from the railing.

"And what am I suppose to do until then. I can't talk to anyone else about this, unless you think it's ok if I–"

"No, I think we should just keep it to ourselves for now. This, this is just too big to drop onto everyone right now."

"Allen, get real. There's only so many months I can ride on before people start to wonder. And I'm definitely not saying I'm getting fat. I at least have to tell someone else."

"Alright, alright, I'll cave. But I get to pick the person you tell, deal?"

"Deal."

"Alright, brace yourself now. I pick…Kanda."

"Kanda?" asked Lenalee with a strange look on her face.

"Kanda." repeated Allen as he looked to her smugly.

"But…why Kanda? He's a guy."

"Oh I beg to differ. But, he's the last person I expect to spread this around to other people. Sure, he may not be the most sociable of people and sure he might walk away from you and maybe he's–"

"Allen, you're not helping."

"Ok shutting up now. But look, all I'm saying is that out of everyone in the Order, he'd be the only person I'd trust with something this big. Outside off you of course. I know he'll be a great listener even though he'll probably run away. And! And he wouldn't even dare trying to hurt a girl, especially when they're vulnerable."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" questioned Lenalee as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Nothing, nothing, I shouldn't have said anything to begin with. Um…I'm going to go now. I'll be back…whenever. Bye!" blurted Allen as gave her a quick peck before shooting off, not leaving her much time to argue.

*&*

Komui was sleeping atop his desk, using the pile of paper as a pillow. He was out cold after having on an Allen hunt for two days straight without any sleep. He figured he deserved a little nap. And by little nap, I mean snooze fest. That's why when there was a knock on his office door, he didn't wake up. But instead of waiting and knocking again, the person allowed themselves in, revealing stubble faced, spiked haired Reever wearing a lab coat. Making his way routinely over to Komui's desk, he cracked his knuckles, gave his shoulders a shack before cupping a hand over his mouth and bending down to whisper into his ear.

"Lenalee's getting married to Allen." At this Komui screamed, more out of anger than fear like usual. Reever clamped his hands over his ears, cringing at the sound.

"Don't. Say. That. Reever. Not if you fear a little something called life! If you get what I mean." growled Komui as he peeled off a piece of paper that was sticking to his forehead.

"Well excuse me sir but Allen wishes to speak with you. He says you'll know what's it about."

"Just…let him in and go back to work please Reever." replied Komui as he began rubbing his temple, not liking where this was going. Reever could tell something was wrong though he chose not to comment and instead went to open the door, allowing Allen in while he exited the expansive room.

Walking in sheepishly, Allen slowly made his way to the coach. Komui kept his eyes steadily on Allen as he tip-toed over the cluttered floor. He continued glaring at him as he took his seat on the coach, looking everywhere but at him. Foolish boy, walking into the cave of the dragon unarmed and seemingly unprepared. He was at the mercy of his every whim now.

*&*

Lenalee finally found Kanda sitting undisturbed in the edge of the surrounding forest, his face and body covered in sweat. Sighing at her friend's ability to be un-spontaneous, she slowly made her way over to him, trying desperately not to destroy his concentration. But this samurai was just too good to let her go unnoticed. Or just too grouchy to let her presence, or anyone's for that matter, slide.

"What is it that you want?" questioned Kanda, still remaining poised and stiff as a statue. Lenalee had to admit she will forever be amazed that he knew who it was that he was talking to without having to look. But even though she admired the talent, it also made her very annoyed sometimes.

"Nothing, can't a person just sit here, in a forest, with one of their closest friends?"

"State your problem then leave. I don't have time to deal with your social life but you might as well tell me so I don't have to waste my breath to ask you what's wrong, saving me the trouble of pretending like I actually care."

"Alright, you want me to just go out and say it."

"You might as well." He replied, his eyes still closed as his head remained faced forward. Lenalee stifled a laugh that threatened to escape. Oh he was so not going to suspect this.

"Ok but I'm warning you now, it was your idea. Got that?"

"Whatever."

"I'm pregnant."

At this Kanda's eyes snapped opened, his nostrils flaring as he turned to look at her. His expression was bewildered, showing so much shock that Lenalee was surprised that something like this would affect the always stoic and sometimes moody exorcist so much. This was actually turning out to be a little fun!

"I hope you're joking and that that stupid rabbit put you up to it."

"Nope, he doesn't even know. Only Allen and my brother. And now you!"

"Well I feel so honored." replied Kanda sarcastically as he got to his feet, walking away at a restraint pace, one that seemed like he was struggling to remain walking but wishing he was running.

"Wait, where are you going? I need someone to talk to about this. And you're such a good listener!"

"No thanks. I'd rather chew iron nails and screws than listen to something like–" began Kanda before Lenalee made this moaning noise that caused him to stop and turn. She stood with her arms wrapped around her stomach, her face looking blotchy and pale. Call him crazy, but he thought pregnant women didn't give birth until like, several months later. She didn't even look pregnant to begin with. So what the hell was wrong with her?

"What's wrong?" asked Kanda, trying to remain cool even though his voice carried a hint of panic. He didn't know how to react to a situation like this.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" mumbled Lenalee before she covered her mouth with a hand and ran into the forest, leaving Kanda to sweat drop as he waited for her to return. At least now he seemed to have enough proof to believe her words. Whether he enjoyed what had been used as proof, that could be debatable.

*&*

"We need to talk." stated Allen slowly, struggling to remain calm.

"There's nothing we need to talk about that we don't already know Walker. Please leave my office before I'm resorted to use force." countered Komui, his hands folded over his mouth, his stare strangely cold for someone like him.

"Please, Komui. We have to talk this out. You don't even have to say anything if that's what you want. All that I ask for from you is that you listen." He said before pausing, waiting to see if that would gain a response. Sadly it did not, so he chose to continue. "I love her Komui, more than anything. I know you don't approve but…I wish to marry Lenalee. Whether you like it or not, there is nothing in this world that can stop me from doing that.

"And look, finding out that she's pregnant wasn't all that easy for me to hear either. Believe me, I didn't have this planned. I'm scared about this too but I willing to push that aside and be there for her. Even if it feels like I'm about to break, I swear to you that I will never abandon your sister. Because, like I said, I love her, and want to be there for her and our unborn child. I want to be with her for the rest of our lives." finished Allen as he finally looked to Komui, who had his head bowed as his hand went to cover his face, his shoulders shaking. Allen's eyebrows furrowed as he closed his eyes, sighing as he suddenly stood up on his feet and walked over to Komui.

"Go ahead, punch me." He said with his arms outstretched his arms to the air, showing that he wouldn't try to block. Komui looked up, his tear rimmed eyes staring up at him in mild surprise. But slowly he stood to his feet, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"What?"

"Punch me, I know you want to." He said shortly before he was punched squarely in the jaw, sending into the book case that stood behind him. Apparently Lenalee wasn't the only one who had a strong punch thought Allen as he began rubbing his jaw.

"Feel better?" asked Allen through gritted teeth as he got back to his feet shaking slightly.

"No," replied Komui as he rubbed his knuckle before lifting his head up to show that a small smile was on his face as tears began to slide down his face in a rather peaceful manner. "But it's a start."


	39. Falling into motion

Ch. 39: Falling into motion

The next several months were…rough on Allen. Sure, he wasn't the one that was pregnant but it sure felt like he was whenever he was around Lenalee. This turned out to be all the time. Not that he was complaining, it's just that she sometimes liked to yell at him, a lot. And when she wasn't with him, she was with Kanda, if he wasn't on a mission. But that usually happened when they got into a one-sided argument that Allen learned right away to not take seriously and just roll with the punches until she forgave him. But on some occasions, when she got extremely grouchy, she would lock him out of his own room at night, where she had decided to keep residence as of late, and forced him to find another means of sleep. This sometimes resulted in him sleeping on the floor just outside the door.

Everyone had learned of their engagement two months after he proposed and that he had learned about her pregnancy. But the cheer, and in some cases tears, over that only lasted until they announced that Lenalee was pregnant. Then everything seemed go up to the roof as they all congratulate and cheered, to his and Komui's dismay. The two had managed to but this past them for her sake, but that didn't mean there wasn't a surprise attack every now and again. Just to keep him on his toes. Or keep him paranoid. Whatever worked better.

He'd just be glad when this whole thing was over. So far he had to suspend his time out in the field just so that he could take care of Lenalee, who was forbidden to leave the Order. To substitute for his inactivity, Krory and Marie would usually join Tiedoll to complete his duties as a General. In his spare time he would train Tyki, who had finally been accepted into the ranks as an exorcist and had recently been given his exorcist uniform alongside Thomas, who was now a part of the Zokalo unit.

Sighing at his fiancé's reluctance to leave his room or even allow him entrance, he resided with doing another training session with Tyki again. Though he wished she could at least get some fresh air once in a while, maybe even come out to watch the two of them every now and again. But he wasn't going to force her to go either, so he resided to have Miranda watch over her again, the only person besides Kanda she would let in to talk. Once having done that and reassured her that it was only Miranda that was coming to see her today, he left for the training grounds, hoping to see Tyki along the way. If not then he would just try checking his room, one that had near the lower levels of the Order, secluded from the others. He was ok with this, seeing as how there wasn't a whole lot of people who trusted him or even cared what he thought. So he was fine with having his courters separated from the rest of them.

He didn't have to look far, Tyki was already there munching on a sandwich, a plate full of crumbs sitting beside him. He was on his back, staring up at the ceiling bored before perking up at the sound of approaching footsteps. But he didn't look to see who was approaching, simply going back to eating his sandwich before murmuring, "Hey teach."

"I thought I told you we were strictly on a first name, nick name basis. You don't want to call you apprentice now do you?" responded Allen as he yanked the sandwich out of his pupils hand, taking a bite out of it before placing it back down onto the empty plate.

"If you're hungry, go get your own sandwich card shark! Don't take a bite out of mine." retorted Tyki as he got to his feet. Allen laughed before shrugging his shoulders, slowly pulling off his gloves before tossing them aside.

"What? I was hungry and I just couldn't resist. You can have the rest if you want, it wasn't all that good as I thought it would be."

"Picking up habits from your girlfriend I see. Next I'll be expecting you to be all bitchy about me not having my coat on the right way." teased Tyki as he eased off his exorcist coat, the sleeve's cuffs slightly rolled back, the material crisp and unwrinkled. Now he stood in a training shirt, the sleeves cut off at his shoulders, the tight shirt cut with a v-neck as if showed a few scars that had remained as a reminder of his many battles. Especially of the ones fought with the white haired General.

At the comment Allen's features darkened slightly as he looked away, his gaze slightly distant for a moment. Sure, he wouldn't lie, Lenalee did that with his food often times whenever they had a midnight snack with each other. And sometimes with his other meals, but that happened rarely. At the present moment she was feeling self conscious with her image, seeing as how she was now starting to show, and as of late had chosen to eat in his room. It wasn't that he was oppose to it, it was just that sometimes it would get a little too dirty for his liking and sometimes he ended up cleaning his room several times a week while she took a nap.

"Look, can we just get on with this? I'm supposed to be training you, you know."

"This is nice and all, but how much more can I learn just by standing here and fighting you? Can't I please go on a mission with one of the other exorcists? Please! It'll help me get to know them better and to show that I'm really here to help them." pleaded Tyki, losing his cool as he got to his knees and began begging him to go. Allen sweat dropped at his antics, a part of him feeling that this was strangely wrong. Tyki seemed to realize this too as he backed off and got to his feet, coughing into his hand as he looked away.

"It's official, I've finally sunken to an all time new low. I feel so degraded." mumbled Tyki as he activated his innocence effortlessly. His hands transformed into large paws that hung inches away from the floor, the fingers curled up to resemble jagged hooks. Currently he was at a 38% sync rate, still fairly low. But he was steadily getting better, little by little every day.

"If you'll pretend like that didn't happen, I'll see what I can do." compromised Allen, earning a subtle nod from Tyki before he activated his own innocence.

The two of them circled each other slowly, all their muscles bunching up as they prepared for anything to happen. And then simultaneously, the two of them struck at each other. Both blocking the other with their own anti-akuma weapon, the two fought to overpower the other before realizing the task was seemingly pointless. Jumping back after that, the two of the mocked glared at the other before Allen lashed out again. This time Tyki grabbed his arm, his larger paw of a hand squeezing as he used the other to swipe out at him, sending crashing into the wall as soon as he had let go.

Ramming into the wall, Allen gave a pained grunt before rolling out of the way of Tyki's incoming claws Gritting his teeth at his miss, Tyki ran forward, his hands glowing before slowly morphing to becoming more lethal instead of power heavy. It was easier to use this with close combat, something he had discovered during their training sessions. Closing in, he began to rapidly jab out at Allen, the younger man being barely able to dodge the swift swings. But soon enough he was being pushed into a corner, something that he would not be able to escape from unscathed. So instead, he jumped up and planted both his feet against Tyki's chest, and used all his strength to push him back.

Working for the time being, the two were separate from each other for a moment before charging once more. Punching each other here and there the two continued their path of destruction, both struggling to out best the other. Soon sweat glistened across their faces, both of them determined to tire the other out. Just as Allen spun for another kick, Miranda came bursting out into the opening, causing Allen stop with his leg poised and ready to kick Tyki in the neck while he was poised and ready to punch him across the face.

"Umm…yes Miranda, what is it?" asked Allen as he struggled to remain standing in his uncomfortable stance. But before long he simple turned and dropped his leg down, Tyki withdrawing his arm to his side as he walked away, not wanting to hear anything they might bring up.

"Well-I-um…well y-you see Lena-Lenalee…" stuttered Miranda as she became tongue tied and struggling with her words in her usual panicked tone.

"What! What is it?! Nothing should be happening! I mean, she's only about 5 months pregnant…" panicked Allen, only fuelling Miranda's uptight, always trying to please personality.

"Allen…"

"Sure she's had her ups and downs but she's only been pregnant for 5 months for God's sake! What could possibly be happening?!?!"

"ALLEN, I'M SO SORRY IF IT SOUNDED LIKE SOMETHING LIKE THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME AS I GO REPENT MY MISDEED OF MISLEADING YOU!!!!!!" cried out Miranda as she began sobbing and asking for his forgiveness. Upon hearing that nothing was wrong, at least for the moment, relieved Allen though it still didn't answer his question.

"Then…what's wrong? Does she need me to get her something? Or need to do something that needs to be done?" restated Allen, his panic ebbing away, waiting for the right moment to rear its ugly head.

"S-she wants to tal-talk wi-with you. Sh-she thinks…th-that you don't like her an-anymore." replied Miranda, her voice wavering because of her tears. At this Allen went lax, his shoulders sagging slightly as he ran a hand down his face.

At this Tyki snorted before struggling to stifle a laugh which eventually escaped his lips as he fell to the floor. Holding his sides, he began rolling with laughter, unable to shut up. Allen's eyebrow twitched as he turned to Tyki, glaring down at him before walking away towards his room slowly. Sighing, he took a moment to rub his neck before switching into a fast jog. He didn't want to keep her waiting now.

*&*

Upon seeing the door to his room in the distance, Allen slowed down, taking a few hesitant steps forward before standing directly in front of the door. Sucking in a breath, he went to open the door, only to find out that it was locked. Sighing, he proceeded to knock on the door, although he didn't get a reply. Confused, he tried seeing if she had somehow unlocked the door without him realizing it, only to find that it was still locked. Eyebrows furrowing, he knocked on the door harder, hoping that it would be heard by her. Unfortunately, it didn't.

"Lenalee, can you please unlock the door. Miranda said you wanted to talk to me. And I can't really do that unless you want me to talk to you through the door."

"Go away."

"Please let me, I just want to see you."

"No, I'm not beautiful enough for you. I'm big, fat and my breast fell like two balloons." At this Allen leaned his head against the door, running out of ideas and struggling to not picture that part of her body at the moment.

"Don't say that. You're beautiful no matter what in my eyes. Let me in, please."

"Really?"

"Yep."

At this the door slowly opened a crack, revealing Lenalee standing there in the corner. She stared at him for one hard second before slowly stepping aside and allowing him in. Releasing a breath, he leaned against the door frame as he stared at her with soft eyes, taking in the beauty that she was denying she had. Sure her hair looked like it needed a comb to tame it, and her clothes were starting to look a little too tight, but that didn't matter. She was still the beautiful young woman he fell in love with one faithful night a few years ago, back when he had first came to the Order.

"Let's go outside and walk around the grounds, just the two of us. What do you say?"

"No, I can't. People will stare." Pouted Lenalee as she turned away, walking back further into his room to take a seat on his bed.

"You're going to have to come out sometime. Staying here in this dark room isn't good for you. You need a little sunshine once in awhile."

"It's not like I don't go outside. I go outside when Kanda's here."

"Why would you go outside with him but not with me? I'm going to be your husband in who knows how long, so you can at least, you know, let me do things with you."

"Look, I just don't want to go outside right now, ok? I'm tired but if this really means something to you then I'll go." compromised Lenalee, doing a complete 360 with her point. Crazy hormones.

"You sure? We don't have to if you don't want to. You did say you're tired. And we can always do it another time."

"No, no, I will not live with myself if I don't do this for you. We haven't spent–" began Lenalee as she got to her feet before gasping as she looked down at her stomach, a smile creeping onto her face. But her initial gasp caused Allen to rush over to her, grabbing her shoulders as he looked at her panickingly. At this rate he was going to have a heart attack by the time something actually did happen. But he couldn't help but ask.

"What's wrong!?!?!"

She laughed before grabbing his right hand off her shoulder and bringing it down to her stomach. This act made him nervous, having never actually been able to muster up enough courage to ask her if he could touch her there once she had begun showing. So he tried pulling away, feeling fairly uncomfortable, but she kept a strong grip on his hand, telling him to wait a moment. And then, he felt something.

It wasn't all that strong but it was still recognizable. His eyes widened as he looked down at her bump then to her, a confused expression on his face as he slowly got down to his knees. Hesitantly, he placed a cheek against the ever growing bulge of her stomach and waited to feel the thing again. When he did, he felt it again, which caused him to fall back in surprise. Expression still showing his confusion slowly changed to wonderment as he looked up to her in joy.

"Did it just…"

Lenalee nodded, a gentle smile on her face as Allen continued to beam up at her before jumping to his feet, unable to stand still as it came rushing to him all at once. He was going to be a father! He, Allen Walker, was going to become the father of the unborn child inside Lenalee Lee, the person he so undeniably loved. In the beginning he definitely had his doubts cut out for him but after feeling it kick, it all just made sense now. He wasn't as afraid as he had been in the beginning now, though part of it still remained.

But that was pushed aside as he held Lenalee's hands for a moment before running out of the room, an extra bounce in his step as he went to tell everyone and anyone that the baby had just kicked. Lenalee watched him go, an amused expression on her face as she watched her lover go, glad that he was actually finally showing the joy she knew he had. As she went to follow him, she couldn't help feeling that something was going to happen. If not today, then surely the next, and so on. Either way, something bad was going to happen. And something told her it was going to happen before their child was born.

*&*

The Earl slammed his fists on the keyboard of his piano, just about positively infuriated. But soon enough he recomposed himself, a chuckle rolling off his lips as he called forth the remaining Noah that hadn't been sent out to retrieve akuma for their forces. Presently only Cyril, Road, Mightra, and Jasdevi were present, the others sent away to carry out his orders.

"Aw, my children, the time for the end and a new beginning draws near. And I want everyone there to witness it. But first we must give them a little warning before we go about doing that. After all, I wouldn't want to be too unfair, now would I?" said the Earl as swept his hand across the chessboard that he forever had hovering beside him, knocking away all the black pieces as a sign of the Order's demise. The Noah present nodded, all of them eager for some bloodshed.

"Cyril, Mightra, and Jasdevi, I want you three to go find your other brothers and sister. I want them all hear before my plans begin to unfold."

"What will I do, Millennium Earl?" piped in Road, eager to play a part in this play.

"Well Road, once all of your siblings have returned, what do you say you and me go and give a little greeting to that nasty place they call the Order. That sound good?" said the Earl, Road leaping into his arms as she began thanking him profusely. It's been awhile since she's seen Allen after all. She wouldn't mind doing a thing or two to that Lenalee Lee though either. After all, she did steal her Allen away from her.

Everything was starting to reach the climax of this intricate and well executed play orchestrated by none other than the Millennium Earl himself.


	40. Fight for Survival

Ch. 40: Fight for Survival

It was two months before they were attack. Two months before most of the Order was put into ruins. It was a quiet and seemingly peaceful day in the Order, Allen, Lenalee, and Komui were just coming back from an appointment with the nurses to check up on the progress of the baby. So far everything was normal and was going as suspected, both the mother and child healthy. They were all discussing baby names with each other, Komui begging them that the child be named Komurin, which they both quickly declined to, when it happened.

Allen's eye activated, spinning out of control as he turned his head left and right frantically. Then an explosion went off to the right, causing Allen jump in front of them while Komui wrapped his arms around Lenalee, blocking her from whatever was going to come. An alarm sounded from the intrusion, alerting the others of the possible invasion. And possible turned out to be true as akuma came swarming in. Activating his innocence, he turned to Lenalee and Komui, his eyes pleading.

"Get away from here, I'll hold them off until reinforcements come." ordered Allen as he pulled out the sword of exorcism, hastily giving Lenalee a peck and Komui a stern nod before throwing himself into battle. Lenalee tried to follow, though her anklets had been taken away from her just in case something like this were to happen while she was still pregnant, so it was easier to restrain her. But harder to watch her cry out for him to wait for her and to not leave her like this.

"Lenalee, come on, he'll be fine." coaxed Komui as he pulled away his crying sister, forcing himself to carry her when she didn't cooperate. Rushing away, he left Allen to fight the akuma off himself, wishing desperately that the others would come aid him soon. He couldn't bare to see her like this any longer. Help had to come.

*&*

Rolling across the floor, Allen slashed through a level 3 akuma without much second though, wiping away the sweat that had begun sliding down his forehead. Smoke and dust were everywhere, debris from him crashing into walls fallen and scattered to the floor. Licking his lips as he began catching his breath, his eyes widened as he caught something approaching in the distance. Walking through the haze of the dust was the Millennium Earl himself, carrying Lero in one hand while holding onto Road's hand with the other.

Anger and fear washed into him as he readjusted his grip on the sword. This couldn't be happening, not now at least. Cursing under his breath for his luck, he charged forward, roaring out as he leaped into the air with his full attention of hitting the Earl. But before he had time to accomplish that, he sent out his inverse version of the sword of exorcism, effectively blocking the strike. Letting go of Road's hand, he placed all his strength forward to send him back. Sliding back, Allen bent forward slightly to slow down, glaring angrily at his arch enemy.

"What do you want Millennium Earl?" growled Allen as he braced himself for another attack.

"Hehe, why Allen Walker, it's such a pleasure to see you again. And you as well 14th." chuckled the Earl, his voice filling with malice at the last part. At this a noahish smirk came upon his face, his hair appearing slightly wavy before his usual features returned, leaving him to yell at the piece of the Noah that still remained from the 14th.

"I just wanted to check out the competition, to see if this battle will be worth it. And I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. Surely someone would have greeted us upon our arrival."

"Alright, well then let me be the first to welcome you here. And let me be the first to tell you goodbye because you aren't going to stay here any longer." replied Allen as he charged forward, slamming his sword against the Earl's.

"Testy, testy. What has gotten you all riled up? Is it because that beautiful girl of yours is now endangered? Especially when she's carrying your child." questioned the Earl as he countered another sword swing, kicking Allen away while he was left in astonishment. Hitting the wall hard, he gritted his teeth in pain as he fell to the floor.

"You stay away from her you toothy grin bastard!" bellowed Allen as he got to his feet, anger written in his eyes as he bared his teeth at the Earl.

"Oh, I'm not the one you should be worrying about." hinted the Earl, realization soon dawning on the white hair General as his anger morphed into fear. Jumping out of the way of a lunge, Allen began running down the hall, past akumas that continued firing at him as he attempted to make to Road before she made it to his love.

*&*

People were rushing past him and Lenalee, most of them heading towards the area where the explosion occurred. Lenalee was crying into his shoulder, pounding weakly on his back in an attempt to make him let her go. Relief ran through him as he noticed that Tiedoll, Marie, and Timothy were rushing past him, showing that Allen would get back up. But he couldn't keep running, he was going to have to help, though he couldn't just leave Lenalee. She'd surely do something that would end badly. What if she lost the baby?

Then he spotted Kanda and Lavi, both coming his way. Once they came into his reach, he stopped them and dumped his sister into Lavi's arms, catching him by surprise. Shifting his weight to better compensate in carrying her, the red head looked to Komui in alarm. Kanda also did the same, though his was a look more of annoyance more than anything.

"What are you doing Komui?" asked the bewildered rabbit before looking down at Lenalee nervously.

"I need to be there for my people. Orders need to be issued, plans need to be made. I need you two to take care of Lenalee for me and if anything happens, you get her out of here. And please try to calm her down, this stress isn't good for her, especially when she's only a few months away from the due date." instructed Komui as he clamped the two on the shoulder before turning his gaze down to Lenalee, who was still crying but otherwise wasn't putting up a fight like she had been earlier. He took a deep inhale of breath before rushing off, screaming out orders to the people that were on their way to the site of the explosion.

"What should we do Kanda?" Lavi asked, for once sounding serious, albeit somewhat desperate.

"Tch, we do what he says baka. You lead and I'll cover your back." muttered Kanda as he unsheathed Mugen, activating his innocence infused sword by sliding two fingers up the dark blade.

And before long the three were jogging out, Lavi wanting to be careful while carrying a pregnant Lenalee while debris were starting to fall to the ground while akuma continued to swarm. Luckily Kanda was able to cut the ones that got close, and the ones that even thought to dare to get too close to the trio. Smoke was starting to bellow down the halls, people continuously rushing past to follow Komui's orders.

Things were going well enough considering the current situation until they heard a chilling laughter that caused them to freeze in their steps. The pair looked around, the two of them getting closer together as Lavi placed Lenalee near a crevice in the wall, away from the damage before drawing his hammer. Getting back to back with the Japanese man, the two of them stood their ground as they waited for whatever or whoever had laughed to reveal themselves. Then suddenly, the person made clear of whom they were as a pointed tip candle came zooming out of nowhere, digging into Kanda's shoulder.

Ignoring the sharp pain that ran down his arm, his eye flared up in anger as he wheeled around just in time to slice down a couple more oncoming candles. Baring his teeth, he shot forward, slicing out into thin air as Road effortlessly dodged to and fro. A smug smirk was on her face as she sidled out of the way of yet another swing, jumping over Lavi's swing he made with his hammer.

"You two are going to have to be better than that." taunted Road as she lunged at Lavi, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as their faces becoming very close before she threw him onto Kanda. Becoming tangled together, the two were currently out for the count for the moment as Road begun walking over to the crevice the Bookman had placed Lenalee in.

Grinning down sadistically, she thrusted her hand into the crevice and wrapped her fingers around the silky lock of Lenalee's black hair, yanking back harshly as she pulled the broken exorcist out. Her smile grew in size at the sight of the pain Lenalee's face and eyes were showing, fueling her lust to see her crimson blood. Throwing her aside to the ground, Lenalee landed hard on her back, the pain causing her to cry out in pain. This was just becoming too much for the Noah of Dreams. And it hadn't even begun.

"You should be punished. Allen doesn't deserve someone like you and you definitely don't deserve to be with someone like him. Let alone carry his child you filthy whore." She said with malice in her voice, grabbing her by the back of her neck and lifting her up to her own level. Upon seeing the anguish and fear in her eyes did the Noah began laughing, a twisted and demented laugh that no one can with stand hearing.

This fuelled the two with enough anger to come charging forward, Lavi hitting her with his hammer upside the head while Kanda caught Lenalee before she had time to fall to the ground again. He could feel she was shaking, her legs appearing as though they were about to buckle any second if he hadn't begrudgingly lifted her up into his arms. Lavi was continuing to fight with Road, who would divert her eyes away from Lenalee, revealing in her bouts of anguish that settled in her eyes.

"Pay attention you damn Noah!" hollered Lavi as he slammed the head of his hammer into a seal, releasing a gust of wind that took the form of a soaring eagle, its talons rearing out as it dove into Road, encasing her inside a torrent of dangerous wind. The pressure caused the ground she stood on to crack and sink into a crater, Road covering her face with her arms as she waited out for the wind to disappear.

But then she gave the Bookman an evil grin, catching him by surprise as a few candles dug themselves into arms. Crying out in pain, the red head dropped his hammer and fell to his hands and knees, struggling to recompose himself before he pulled out the candles embedded in his arms. Then the eagle began evaporating, separating so that it returned to being just everyday wind. Road stepped out of the crater and rushed over to Kanda, the samurai's eyes widening angrily as he maneuvered out of the way of her punches and jabs while still carrying Lenalee in his arms.

Then she kicked his ankle, causing him to stumble because of it. Noticing his weakness, she kicked his knee, forcing him to buckle to the floor and send Lenalee sliding. Sliding on her side, she didn't stop until her head ran into some fallen rubble. Gritting her teeth in pain, she began feeling blood slide down her hair line and onto her face, the impact having hopefully only cut her head instead of cracked. But then immense pain rolled up from her midsection, coming in waves that caused her to bite her lip just to prevent herself from crying out. Then it eventually died down, but the pain had been enough to cause her to bite down hard enough to cause her lip to bleed. No, this couldn't be what she thought it was. Not now at least, not while Allen wasn't with her.

Road came sauntering over once more, eyes almost bulging at the sight of the exorcist's blood. Bending down, she wrapped her hand around her throat and lifted her up onto her knees. Her free hand ran down the side of her face the blood was sliding down before going down to her round stomach, her blood stained finger nails digging into the tender flesh. Crying out in pain for both her nails digging into her skin and the waves of pain similar as before rolled up her body.

Before the Noah had a chance to do anymore damage, a feral cry came from above. Letting go of her 'toy' uninterestedly, Road avert her gaze upward, a joyful smile replacing the malicious one she had been baring earlier. From above came Allen, his eyes harboring a deep animalistic anger that was fuelled by his rage as he came crashing down on top of Road. Expecting this, she stepped back a few steps with her arms outstretched from her sides, waiting for the white haired young man to come into her open arms. When he did, she ensnared him into a tight embrace as they flew through the air. But instead of reciprocating it, he grabbed both sides of her and twisted it harshly, snapping her neck and incapacitating her for a brief moment.

Getting to his feet, he averted his gaze away from her crumpled body, his eyes tight shut as he fought to regain composure. Then he lifted his arm up in front of him to block a swing from the Earl, who had followed him in his pursuit to make it to Lenalee before Road had. Shifting his weight around, he swerved, ducked, and jumped on coming swings from the Earl, Road soon joining the mix once she had managed to recover herself. Lavi pulled out the last candle that had made its way into his arm, Kanda snapping his leg back into place before limpingly staggering to his feet. The two of them made to help but instantly Allen turned on them, eyes beckoning as he began yelling for them to go.

"Get out of here! I'll follow you guys once I'm finished dealing with these two." yelled Allen as he caught Road's fist with one hand while catching the blade of the Earl's sword with the other. Gritting his teeth as he was slowly being pushed back, he looked over his shoulder to see that neither one of them had moved, Lenalee staring up at him with horror stricken eyes that just about broke his heart. But he couldn't stop and help her like he wanted to. He had to protect her from the likes of the Earl and Road.

"What you two waiting for?! Go!" cried Allen as he went back to looking forward, slipping under another swing from Road before rolling out of the way of the Earl's sword. Still they did not move, though they were contemplating on whether or not they should go. At this Allen scowled, gritting his teeth as he straightened up and glared at them.

"Just do it!" He growled before his breath was knocked out of him due to the fact that the Earl's flat side of the sword sent him flying. At this the two of them snapped out of their contemplation and ran over to Lenalee, the two of them lifting her up and carrying her away.

*&*

Allen rolled across the floor, gritting his teeth as he felt another candle jab into his thigh. Breathing heavily, he staggered to his feet, calling forth his sword as he charged forward once more. Swords clashed with each other, him and the Earl glaring fireballs at each other as they shifted all their weight against the other. Then Road jumped onto his back, her legs wrapping around his waist as she began pulling on his hair, knocking him out of his concentration. Falling back, the black sword nicked his right arm as he fell to the ground, Road enjoying the position they were in. Snuggling her face into his neck, she ignored what was going on as Allen rolled away from another sword plunge.

Growing more and more annoyed, he slammed his back upside the wall, knocking Road off his back. Re-gripping his sword handle, he charged forward once more, slashing out at the Earl before sending a death ball. Knocking the Earl back a few feet, he kicked out at Road as soon as he was aware that she was going to attack him. Wiping his forehead away of the sweat that was sliding down his face, his shoulders sagged slightly as he fought to remain standing.

Just when he thought he was going to be overwhelmed again as Road and the Earl drew nearer when Tyki came out of nowhere, falling to the floor beside his master. Coughing his lungs free of the dust, he waft away the smoke and dust that fluttered before him before grinning down at Allen.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked with a sneer as he activated his innocence, his arms appearing to be weighing him down even though they felt like they normally did when his innocence was inactive.

"Be my guest." answered Allen before the two of them charged forward, Allen taking the Earl and Tyki taking Road.

*&*

Lenalee was crying out in pain, the waves of pain growing steadily stronger and closer together. Lavi was becoming anxious by the second, knowing this wasn't a good sign. She wasn't due for another two months now so it wasn't good if she was having contractions. Maybe it was just false labor due to all the stress that was going on. That could be why! At least, that's what Lavi thought as he pulled her up into his arms, bridal style, when Kanda needed to unsheathe his sword for approaching akuma. Until he noticed blood start to run down her thighs and onto his hands.

"Whoa…WHOA!!!! Holy shit, ah…Kanda?" rambled Lavi as his eyes bugged out of his sockets.

"What?" growled Kanda as he slashed apart an akuma, blood staining his dark blue hair.

"We have to get to the Nurse…now!" yelled Lavi as he turned, running down a deserted hallway that would lead to the infirmary, a better way than redoubling their tracks back to where the madness was.

Kanda soon followed, feeling just as nervous as Lavi appeared once he got what he meant. The two ran down the desolate hallway, ignoring the pieces of ceiling that continued to fall in random patterns. Chaos was ensuing everywhere, their home falling apart. It was happening all too fast, almost feeling surreal. And it wasn't helping that Lenalee could possibly be going into labor right about now. Damn that Earl!

"Lenalee, you're going to have to try to relax and take deep breaths, ok? We're going back to take you to the infirmary…" Lavi said, struggling to keep his voice calm.

"This can't be happening! It's too soon and I can't do this without Allen!!!" cried Lenalee, her voice full of panic before screaming out in pain.

"Calm down, he'll be here. He said he would. And hopefully it's not what we all think it is. Maybe it's–" he said, breaking out into a nervous sweat as he continued running, shrinking back slightly from her cries of pain.

"Usagi."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up!" bellowed Kanda as he jumped over some rubble.

"Alright, but don't panic. You'll only make it worse." replied Lavi, the one that was actually panicking.

"Tch."

The two continued running, not liking the situation they were in anymore than Lenalee did. After all, she wasn't prepared for something like this to happen during a time like this. And Allen wasn't even with her. She couldn't do this alone.

Eventually they made it to the infirmary, the only place that was still completely intact. Miranda stood nearby with her arm still in a sling, her expression showing fear. As they made their way down the hall, she rushed forward, hoping that there was something she could do even though it didn't seem like her innocence would be of any effect for a situation like this.

Carrying her over to an empty bed, Lavi gently placed her down on the bed and proceeded to get the head nurse. Kanda and Miranda remained situated around her bed, Miranda grabbing a hold of her hand before wiping away the sweat that clung to her forehead. As the two came rushing over, Lavi positioning himself on the other side of Lenalee, an explosion erupted from the right.

Pulling out Mugen, Kanda charged forward once more as he prepared to vanquish the akuma that were preparing to enter. Lavi looked to Lenalee before leaving her side, moving to stay positioned in front of her bed, just in case an akuma somehow managed to get past Kanda.

*&*

The two exorcists blocked their opponent's attacks, both steadily becoming more and more desperate to end this. Tyki blocked another kick from Road, using his other arm to grab a hold of his niece before he was thrown across the room. Slamming into the wall, he fell harshly to the floor before picking himself up and grabbing a boulder and throwing it at her. She easily dodged this, a twisted smirk on her face as she grabbed hold a fistful of his curly hair.

"What happened to you Tyki? What made you change into a filthy servant to that fake God instead of the Millennium Earl?" questioned Road as she pouted down at him, sparking up reminders of the old days.

"Yeah, well, I guess whoever's in charge had other plans. You can't control fate!" he said as he whacked her away from him, moaning in pain at the lost of some his beloved hair. Sliding across the floor, she sighed before suddenly disappearing, causing him to become alert as he jumped to his feet.

"Oh yeah? Well if I can't control fate, then how can I be doing this?" she said as she thrusted a jagged piece of metal into his back, twisting it as soon as she had heard him scream out in pain.

"Fate can be so easily controlled. Just like it is so easy to extinguish yours. Because your fate is to die here by my hands."

"…no…" growled Tyki as he fell to the floor, breathing heavily before he struggled up onto his hands and knees. Glaring up at her, he slowly got up onto his feet, a hand going to his back and pressing against the wound before withdrawing it to see blood already flowing from the deep wound.

"This isn't going to be my fate. Not when I've been given a second chance of redemption!" yelled Tyki as he rushed forward, innocence activating once more.

Meanwhile Allen was squaring off with the Earl. The fight was becoming more and more irksome, Allen wishing this would end already. He wanted to make sure that Lenalee was alright and safe. If anything were to happen to her, or their unborn child, he wouldn't know what to do. That's why he needed to end this quickly. He couldn't leave them alone in this world.

"What is that you want Millennium Earl? There has to be a very good reason why you're here, ruining our home." yelled Allen as he sent an energy wave at him, only to have it countered by that of his own.

"Why Allen, I was just returning the favor. If I remember correctly, you were the one who destroyed that of which had been my home. But there is a reason as to why I am here. I have come to inform you that the final battle draws near. And that you all have been formally invited to see my play reach its climax. After all, you and I are the leading roles in this magnificent play." chuckled the Earl as he jumped back, his sword transforming back into Lero before he gave a high pitched whistle, one that caused Road to stop and for the akumas to unwilling evacuate. Although that didn't stop them from doing at least a little more damage to the place before they flew to the skies.

"Come on my dear, we need to go and prepare. This final act has to be spectacular."

"Ah, but I didn't have enough time with Allen yet!" whined Road before stomping over to the Earl, grabbing hold of his free hand before sticking her tongue out at Tyki and blowing a kiss over to Allen. He recoiled from it, only thankful enough that she hadn't even tried kissing him. That wouldn't have settled well with him.

"It's alright, you'll see him again very soon. Tata for now though." finished the Earl, blowing a kiss to Allen as well. If this wasn't his arch enemy, he would have been puking in disgust right about now.

And then, just like that, they were gone. Sighing, Allen reverted his sword back as his arm, catching Tyki before he had a chance to collapse. Supporting him despite the fact that he was injured himself. But he couldn't twaddle any longer. He had to make sure Lenalee was alright.

"Are you going to be ok here."

"No, I'll be fine. I'll just sit here, with a stab in the back wound, a few bruises, cuts, and take a drag off of one of my cigarettes and ponder over how oddly that rock over there looks an awful lot like your ass." replied Tyki sarcastically, his voice laced in pain as he almost fell forward if Allen had redoubled his hold around his midsection.

Sighing, he turned to look over in the direction he had seen Lenalee been carried away by Kanda and Lavi, longing to go see her. '_Fine, if he's going to be such an ass about it…' _thought Allen before he bent down and hoisted Tyki across his shoulders, pushing up as soon as he was sure he had Tyki situated across his shoulders. Grunting in pain with the older man not out cold across his shoulders, he quickly got into a run, eager to make it to his love.

*&*

"Whether we like it or not, this baby is going to be coming now." stated the head nurse as she and her assistant rushed back and forth, her other subordinates tending to the other exorcist that were pouring in. Lavi came rushing over with a pot of boiling hot water and a few towels slung across his shoulders, his face all flustered has he handed the nurse the items.

"Here, uh…I think th-these are…what you wanted." stuttered Lavi, the head nurse's assistant taking the thinks before rushing back behind the drawn curtain.

Preparing to step forward, the sounds of Lenalee's screams caused him to froze, horror written in his eyes before mustering up enough courage to walk through. Averting his gaze downward, he moved to make his way over to Lenalee when he was pushed out by the head nurse.

"You need to go get Allen." ordered the Head Nurse, an accusing finger jabbing into his chest.

"There isn't enough time. She's going to need some more support before he arrives. Miranda's already fainted."

"She isn't going to corporate without him. If she doesn't we could lose them both. Lavi, if you get what I am saying, you'll go get Allen. Kanda's with her right now."

"Why Kanda of all people?"

"Lavi!"

"Right, I'm going!" finished Lavi as he stumbled back before turning to run out, running into Komui along the way. He was worse for wear but others wise was in good shape, despite what the dust may make it seem. When he went to ask him about his sister, a startling scream came from behind the curtains, giving him his answer.

"How is she?!" asked Komui, his eyes widened in fear.

"She's in labor, her water broke about a half-hour ago. She isn't cooperating right now, and if she doesn't, well…I'm going to go get Allen." answered Lavi before Komui rushed past him, removing his beret as he did so.

Running off, Lavi began running as fast he could, his nerves making him stumble over the fallen rubble. All around him were finders and other employees, each of them trying to help the other while they were wounded. Cries of sadness could be heard for those who had discovered that their friends had perished in the rubble. Seeing them just made all the more harder, especially when Lenalee and her baby could be joining them if he didn't hurry up.

Jumping over a fallen pillar, he stumbled once more, this time earning a whine from out of nowhere. Looking down, he noticed Bai was pinned under the pillar. His lushes white fur was tainted in crimson red. A huge cut was running down the poor creatures thin chest, it's front leg twisted into an irregular position. Agony was written in the dog's, just begging for his misery to end. Chewing his fingernails, Lavi contemplated what to do to the dog before Allen came from within the haze. Perking up because of this, he rushed over to the younger man's side.

"Allen…" began Lavi, his hands resting on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

"What?" asked Allen, oblivious to the situation at the moment.

"It's Lenalee…she needs you…having baby…now…" gasped Lavi, Allen's eyes widening by the second.

"WHAT?!?!?!" gasped Allen, throwing Tyki off his shoulders like it was nothing and began running off towards the direction Lavi had came from, said exorcist following after him. Tyki jerked awake as soon as he hit the ground, rubbing the back of his head as he glared at the rapidly shrinking form of his master. Then it fell to the whimpering dog, contemplation shining in his eyes. Should he or should he not take it out of its misery?

*&*

"No! I can't do this without him!!!" screamed Lenalee before she cried out in pain. Komui was currently holding her down while trying to give her support while she pulled on Kanda's long hair.

"Lenalee, sweetie, you're going to have to push. Your baby needs to be born now." coaxed he nurse, trying to soothe the young woman.

"It hurts too much…" sobbed Lenalee, starting to believe that she wasn't strong enough to do something like this. Then the white haired exorcist came bursting through the door, rushing over to the drawn curtain while Lavi stood wavering in anticipation.

"Shh…it's alright, I'm here." soothed Allen as he came into Lenalee's teary eyed view. Shoving Kanda aside, he took his place beside her, offering his left hand for her to squeeze while he pressed her head to his chest, leaning over her to rest his chin on top of her head in hopes that it would give her comfort. And maybe even some of his strength.

Meanwhile, as Kanda came stumbling out, Lavi snapped out of his daze and turned to him. At the present moment his hair was in total disarray, due to Lenalee's constant pulling and ripping. She had been pulling so much that he could've sworn that he had a bald spot somewhere on the back of his head. It didn't help that he was tired and blood stained but that didn't stop the Bookman to come rushing over.

"How is she?"

"How the hell should I know?! I was too busy letting my hair get pulled that asking her just completely slipped my mind!" growled Kanda as he ran his hand through his hair, desperately trying to straighten it now that it was free from his high ponytail. Lavi sighed, slumping down to the floor to sit by his grumpy friend as he proceeded to continue where he left off in chewing his fingernails.

The minutes seemed to creep by like hours, the rabbit's anticipation growing by the second. All this waiting was going to kill him. Kanda was also having similar thoughts, though the waiting wasn't going to kill him. He was just hoping that all those countless times where he had to listen to Lenalee complain, cry, and vomit, were worth it. He just wanted this all to be over with so that he could move on with his life. And soon enough, a half hour passed, with no changes. This was starting to get to the two of them.

Then the two of them heard it, although it was very weak and muffled behind the curtains, the sounds of a baby crying. Jumping to their feet, they moved to enter when slowly, Komui emerged with his head bowed. This brought fear into the two, though Kanda wouldn't even dare to admit it, neither one of them willing to ask if something was wrong. But he rose his head up, a look of sheer joy despite the day's events prior that had lead up to this.

"I'M AN UNCLE!!!!! I HAVE A NEPHEW!!!!!!!" cried Komui as he threw himself onto the two, Lavi jumping with joy while Kanda gave the slightest grin before scowling, disgusted at how unmanly the two appeared while they cried tears of joy.

"Tch, I'll see you all around." murmured Kanda once he finally managed to break free of Komui.

"Aw, Yu, wait! Don't you want to see the baby?" whined Lavi, wishing for once that the samurai stick around for the good part.

"I'll see that miniature moyashi sooner or later. I've got better things to do then gawk at a tiny pink thing."

"No, you're going to see it whether like it or not!" countered Lavi as he grabbed him by the arm and yanked him through the curtain.

Once through, the two of them stopped. Lenalee was out cold, sleeping away her heart's content, but her breathing was ragged and strained, beads of sweat all over her forehead. Allen was sitting beside her, tears in his eyes as he held a little bundle in his arms. Though it was a pained expression, one that was on the brink of shattering. Before any of them had a chance to ask what was wrong, the nurse came in, her expression filled with sorrow as she took away the baby.

Allen wiped his face away of the tears, though this only made it worse, and he began sinking forward with his shoulders shaking. Lavi rushed to his best friend's side, pulling him off the bed and supporting him, a look of worry in his expression.

"Allen, is something wrong?" asked Lavi, his voice holding a serious tone despite the worry he was feeling.

"Th-the baby…he was b-born too ear-early and…he…he doesn't have a go-good chance of…surviving." cried Allen, earning shock filled expressions from the trio excluding Kanda. Komui moved over to his sister's side, stroking her sweaty cheeks before grabbing her hand as a means of comfort mostly for himself.

"There has to be something we can do! Something that can help his chances." questioned Lavi, turning his gaze over the nurses before noticing Allen move away from him.

"Staying here isn't going to help. Not when this place can fall down any minute. If Lenalee wakes up, don't tell her anything. I'll be back soon." replied Allen before he began walking away, his heighten emotions causing him to ignore his wounds.

"Wait, where are you going?!" yelled the bewildered Bookman, surprised that he would leave during something like this.

"I'm going to the piano room. I've got a song to relearn."


	41. Ballad of the Musician

Ch. 41: Ballad of the Musician

Allen stepped through the crumbled remains of what had once been the piano room, the invasion from the attack a few hours before having done damage to the place as well. Connections that had once been made to numerous places were destroyed if they weren't already locked from his access to begin with. The piano in the center remained surprisingly intact, despite the surrounding floor. How he was still able to enter the ark was beyond him, but getting here was half the journey. And now he just needed to play a song he couldn't remember the notes to.

Stepping up to the piano, he stared down at the keys, unsure of what to do. He had all but forgot the song that controlled the ark, which didn't help. When the 14th had been within him, he had known the song by heart. But now that his conscious was normally beyond his reach, he didn't know what keys to press, what sequence to follow. It was frustrating, especially when he only had a certain amount of time before it was too late.

"14th! I need your guidance. I need to know your song!" yelled Allen up into the sky, glaring at his surroundings as he awaited for an answer. All he got was some more ceiling to fall to the floor, infuriating him. Of all the times he could be away, he had to chose now. Well he didn't have time to wait.

Moving over to the keyboard, he stood there wavering before pressing his fingers to keys. At first he tried a whole bunch of sequences, praying that one of them would spark his memory and would fill in the pieces. But with try came a failure, only causing his anger to rise even more. This didn't cause him to quit, at least not yet, this only caused him to try even harder. He couldn't let his new born son to die. It would definitely crush Lenalee, probably to a point of no return. He had to get them, and everyone else, out of here before this place fell to shambles. They needed to go to the Asian Branch.

Growling out in frustration, he steadily became more and more desperate. This caused his anxiety to rise, his fingers slowly starting to miss their mark on the keys. And soon enough he had stopped, his fingers pressing down on a series of keys as he began to cry, feeling utterly hopeless. How could this happen? How could his world seemingly crumble into nothing in just a few hours? Slowly he sank to his knees, his hands hanging limply at his sides as he continued to cry all his pain and sorrow out.

'_Don't worry my nephew, I am here now.'_ The distant voice of the 14th came, ringing inside his head. At first Allen didn't hear it, his dull storm grey eyes fixated at the stark white piano before him. It wasn't until he noticed his body acting out on his own did he realize that his cries had been answered.

'_Allen…I will play the song but my power isn't as strong as it use to be. I can only unlock the door you so desperately need and that's it. Then my power and the song will fade away. All that will remain is what I have given you.'_ stated the 14th as he moved Allen into a standing position. Though he hated this sensation of being out of control, he didn't argue, knowing that this was the only way it could be done.

'_This shall be my final performance.'_ He said as his fingers hovered over the keys before slowly pressing down on the keys. The music then began playing, pieces of the ark slowly beginning to grumble apart. A door marked 'Asian Branch' glowed, its form wavering before it disappearing, going out to the people he was trying to save. How he would get out, he would worry about that later. Right now he had a song to play.

*&*

Lavi was holding Allen's and Lenalee's newborn son, holding him close to keep him warm. Lenalee was still out of it, though her appearance seemed to be better than from before. Looking down, he ran his thumb down the side of his face, marveling how soft and how fragile he appeared. He was sleeping right now, away from all this madness at the moment. Hopefully he was having dreams of faraway places and worlds of peace.

He just couldn't believe how small he was, how he could hold him with one arm and not realize what he was holding. And he definitely didn't want to believe that this child had the high probability of dying. It was just too much to believe or accept. This kid was Allen's and Lenalee's for God's sake! He obviously had to be a fighter if he survived this long.

Turning his head back up, he looked for Allen, hoping that he would return soon. Kanda was also missing, seemingly having disappeared out of thin air. No one had seen him leave, which was probably what he had wanted. But still, it was better if he had stayed here with them all. It seemed like Allen had a plan that would get them all to a safe place. Where it was, he didn't have the slightest clue. But it had to be somewhere other than here.

Sighing, he ran his thumb through the little baby's soft black hair. As he did this, a sudden light came from directly across from him, forcing him to shield the baby from the burning bright light. Eventually it died down, revealing a door that slowly unlocked itself and opened, revealing the Asian Branch on the other side. Shocked by this, Lavi slowly got to his feet and moved to Komui, shaking the Chief to grab his attention. As soon as he did, he pointed over to the door, the Chief's eyes widening in surprise. Faintly the sound of the musician's song could be heard, alerting them all who was playing the song.

"Chief Komui, everyone, you all need to go through the door. My power is the only thing keeping it there and the only thing that will bring this place down. If you don't hurry up, then you all will be trapped!" echoed the voice of Allen, telling them all to go while they still had a chance. The sound of a violin replaced the piano, its notes faster and more upbeat as he struggled to keep the power flowing.

"What about you?" asked Komui up to the sky, unsure of where he should be directing the question.

"Don't worry, he'll make it out. You have my guarantee. Now go, you don't have much time!" said Allen distantly, Komui realizing that the 14th had been the one that had been speaking.

Gritting his teeth, he resided to believe him and proceeded to scoop his sister into his tired arms. A tremor ran along the building, causing him stumble slightly before he recovered his footing. Grunting, he ran forward, running through the open door and into the Asian Branch on the other side. Lavi watched him go, unsure of what to do to until he turned his gaze downward to the little baby in his arms, instinct causing him to shoot forward and rushing through the door after Komui.

Soon after the science department made their way through, supporting some injured finders as they did so. Nurses and doctors helped support injured exorcists as they followed after them. The process took a while, crowds upon crowds of people were struggling to make their way through into the other side. Tyki was the last to follow, Timcampy fluttering around his head as he carried the wounded and broken dog in his arms. He came limping forward, ignoring the wound to his back that was causing him so much pain.

But there was still some people missing, people who needed to make it to the door before it was too late.

*&*

Allen continued playing the violin under the 14th's guidance, sweat sliding down his temple as he struggled to increase the speed. Eventually the instrument transformed into a guitar, the tempo of the song slowing down somewhat as he took a seat on a boulder, the room around him continuing to crumble apart. Despite the fact that he was starting to become dizzy and slightly disoriented, he continued playing, the strain to show.

Closing his eyes, he continued playing, ignoring the fact that the whole ark was falling apart along with the Order. A waning smirk came upon his face because of it. If he was going down, then this damn place was going down with him. Pausing for a moment, he snapped his fingers together, summoning a violin, viola, cello, trumpet, and clarinet, allowing the guitar to float along with them as they picked up the song. The piano keys began playing on their own, their delicate melody slowing the song down.

Gasping, he summoned a flute, breathing heavily before he went to put it to his lips. Rich and elegant notes followed, melting into the miniature orchestra he had going on. But the strain was becoming too much, especially with the weaken body the 14th had been left to deal with. In mid note he coughed, erupting the music he had been creating from the flute. Though the rest of the instruments continued playing despite his pause with the flute.

When he went to playing the silver instrument again, he coughed again, blood rising up his throat and falling onto the glittering flute. Wiping his mouth of it hastily, he went back to playing it though the coughs were continuing to rack his body, choking on his own blood. Eyebrows furrowing in frustration, he threw the flute away from him, the instrument remaining suspended with the others as he dove for the piano.

He couldn't stop playing, not until he was sure that everyone had escaped. It just wouldn't settle well with his conscious, what with Allen's mentality mixing with his. His hands slipped on the keys, causing him to curse out loud before picking up the speed. He couldn't afford to mess up. Not anymore at least. At the moment their minds were one with each, their thoughts intermingling with each other. But both had a common goal: To see to it that everyone managed to get out of her safely.

"Oi moyashi! We've got to go." yelled Kanda as he stepped over the rubble, scowling out the floating instruments. Allen turned his head over his shoulder, he gave the samurai a wane smile as he continued playing the piano. Kanda growled as he stomped over to Allen, grabbing his shoulder and pulling back. This annoyed Allen/14th but they reluctantly allowed to be pulled away, at least, not before yanking the violin from the air.

"Will you just leave that here baka?! We've got to go if you didn't hear me before."

"Must…keep playing…door…will close…if we don't…" mumbled Allen/14th, activating Crown Clown before using one of his talons as a substitute for a bow that he didn't have time to grab.

'_Allen, the power is weakening. You need to get out of here before it snaps completely.'_ said the 14th inside Allen's head before throwing his conscious out of Allen, the only thing he could do that ensured that Allen got out. Even if it was the end of him.

Though his form was wavering and transparent, he grabbed the violin out of Allen's hands and gave him a playful scruff upside the head before stepping back. Allen looked up startled, shocked that he could even do this. At first he took the form of Allen himself, with the exception that his hair was deep silver and wavy, his eye golden. Then his form shifted, his appearance taking on the form of his late uncle. Hair darkening and shortening, his height grew as his features changed and matured to resemble Tyki.

"Now go, time is running out." said the 14th as he took a seat on the piano stool, eyes glittering as he went back to playing the violin. Allen was in shock, unable to move because of it. He didn't know that, all this time, he could do that. It wasn't like he had given any sign showing it, so this stunned him.

"If you please Bakanda." He said when Allen didn't go. Growling because the Noah had made fun of him, he proceeded to hoist Allen onto his shoulders when he wouldn't move on his own.

Smirking, he gave Allen a wink as he continued playing, ignoring the cries for him to stop. Kanda ignored this and ran off, Allen outstretching a hand in a meek attempt to get the Noah he had strangely grown so use to despite the whole beginning. But at this one moment he didn't care. This was the person that had helped him out numerous times, even though he had possessed in the beginning, and had tried killing his love. Yeah, sure, there should be every reason for him to hate the Noah, but right now, he didn't care.

"But you'll…disappear…" gasped Allen as he carried away, the 14th looking up at the comment. His grin grew before he shook his head in amusement, going back to focusing on the violin as they room around him began to crumble further. Before Allen had a chance to hear him reply, Kanda ran out of the room, taking Allen with him.

The 14th continued playing for what seemed like a half hour before stopping. Sighing, he placed the violin down, leaning back as he outstretched his arms across the keyboards. Throwing his head back, he began laughing at the destruction that continued to go on all around him. His appearance continued wavering, flickering in and out. Looking at his transparent hands, he sat forward and clasped his hands together, his expression becoming stolid and serious.

"This isn't the end. You hear me Earl! I'll be back…I'll be back." muttered the 14th before a boulder fell onto his transparent form took up, extinguishing his existence. In a flash of light, orbs of glittering light flew up into the sky as the piano room fell apart. And soon enough the rest of the ark fell apart. Along with what remained of the Order.

*&*

Bak was going berserk. First of all, he had just been minding his own business while he was making his way over to the lab to in an attempt to finish off this project that Komui had sent him to do when all the sudden, said person came running out of nowhere. Confused, he thought it was just another trick being played by Fou, to scare him, but when he noticed Lenalee in his arms, he froze.

Rushing over to him, he took in the ragged look of Komui's appearance, and how exhausted he appeared. But before he could question why and how he got here, Lavi came out of nowhere, holding a bundle in his arms. Puzzled by this, he moved closer in, only to have his eyes widen and his breath hitch in his chest as he dropped his cup of tea. What the hell was a baby doing here?

"Hey buddy, you got a problem with Lenalee's baby or something." demanded Lavi as he pulled the baby closer to his body, an accusing look on his face as he looked Bak up and down.

By now Bak's body seemed to turn stark white, his head slowly turning to Lenalee in Komui's arms before going back to Lavi, his face showing he was breaking out into hives. Then more and more members of the main headquarters came seemingly pouring out of nowhere. This was becoming too much for poor Bak and soon enough, he passed out. But that was mostly due to his nerves and his hives.

"We need a doctor here! My sister and nephew need some help!" cried Komui as he ignored Bak's fainting spell in favor of getting Lenalee and his nephew into proper care, Lavi following as he ran down the halls to the infirmary.

After awhile, people of the Asian Branch realized that a door way leading miraculously to the main headquarters. Word had soon spread that the headquarters had been left in ruins and that Allen Walker had been the one who had sent them all there. And said General has yet to be seen seeing as how the last of the employees had made their way through about an hour before. Panic laced up most of the exorcist that sat around the glowing doorway, each of them staring at it as they got their wounds treated as they waited for the young man to emerge.

Once having made sure that Lenalee along with her baby were being tended to, Lavi began pacing in front of the doorway, nervous as ever. Apparently Lenalee was going through a blood transfusion at the moment due to the hemorrhage she had suffered during the child birth. The baby was in a separate area, currently hooked up to a machine giving him oxygen for his slightly underdeveloped lungs. Feeling so antsy, he looked to the doorway again in hopes that he had somehow made it through while he wasn't looking.

Unfortunately he didn't, causing the Bookman to sigh before moving back to his pacing, hands shoving in his pockets as he did so. The doorway was starting to flicker, only causing his anxiety to grow and grow by the second. There wasn't much time left, he had to be coming soon. And Kanda had to be with him because said exorcist was nowhere to be found as well. Maybe he went after Allen as soon as he had rushed away. Maybe the two were on their way right now and all this anxiety was all for nothing. But that was when the doorway began fading, grabbing his attention immediately.

Look up fearfully, he stopped his pacing and stared at the doorway. It's image was fading in and out fast and if those two didn't get through soon, who knows when they would see them again. Especially when their home had been falling apart by the time they all left.

"Dammit Allen, you can't leave her again. Not in the state she's in right now." mumbled Lavi as he put a hand to his chin, his eyes glassing over in seriousness as he prayed and waited for his two friends to arrive.

*&*

Kanda rushed through the crumbling halls of the Order, Allen finally gaining enough sense that he needed to run instead of staying on Kanda's back anymore than he already did. Their home was falling apart, the musician's song still ringing throughout the corridors as they ran for their lives. Both were breathing heavily and dripping of blood but neither one of them seem to be taking that into account, their adrenaline the only thing keeping them going.

"If we get out of this alive, I'm personally going to send you to hell moyashi." huffed Kanda as the two jumped over a fallen pillar, side by side.

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to wait your turn. You've got Komui and the Earl in the front of the line for that." retorted Allen as he stepped out of the way of a hole in the floor.

Neither one of them said a word after that, both concentrating on saving their asses before it became too late. After long drawn out minutes they managed to get to the infirmary, the doorway in their sights by the time the music slowly drew to a close. Frantic upon noticing this, the two increased their speed in a vain attempt to make it to the door before the music ended. Especially when the floor was starting cave in.

Eyes focusing in on the door, the two ran their heart all the way, not pausing as they made it through, thankfully when the last note began ringing through the corridors before fading away, the door along with it.

*&*

Staring at the door, Lavi stood stark still as a statue as he waited for the two to make it through. Just when he was letting the fear sink in though, Allen and Kanda came rushing out, the door fading away in a sparkle of light afterwards. Both stumbled and fell, sliding across the floor as they did so. But Lavi could hardly care as he ran to their sides, skidding to a crouching position as he gaze down at his friends with tears of joy in his eyes.

"What the hell took you two so long? You nearly gave me a heart attack." questioned Lavi as he helped the two to their feet, Kanda yanking his arm away in favor of walking away alone. But if he listened closely, he could've sworn the samurai had something along the lines of 'damn why couldn't it have worked.', though he chose to ignore the comment.

"Sorry, the 14th surprised me by separating from my body and conscious unexpectedly that I was in shock. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't all be here right now." replied Allen, a strange nostalgia in his voice as he realized that all ties he had had with the Noah had been severed, the only thing remaining being the power he had been given. But even that was dwindling to its limits.

"Where are they? I want to see them." asked Allen, fighting back the tiredness that was evident in his voice, his wounds seeping him of his energy. By the look of him he appeared as though he was about to collapse any second. Which is why Lavi outstretched his arms and caught Allen as soon as he noticed him waver, falling forward soon after, totally exhausted.

Sighing, he lifted his best friend up into his arms and sprawled across his shoulders as he began walking over to the infirmary, where only the severally injured were being taken care of while those with minor wounds were being tended outside in the expansive corridor. As he pasted, he noticed Tyki sitting on the floor with bandages wrapped around his abdomen, his hand running through the silky fur of a white dog lying on its side, a nurse looking him over as bandages were being wrapped, the only thing they could do to help the dog at least try to survive.

Everyone was definitely worse for wear, but no one had their spirits crushed. They were alive and that's all that mattered. But still, people's lives were taken away, their home had been destroyed, if this war wasn't drawing to a close, Lavi didn't know what was. This day had just been so…eventful. One that he had to record whether he cared or not. For reasons unknown, they had been attacked by the Earl himself. Then Lenalee, a newly made General exorcist, had given birth to a baby boy. Something like this didn't happen, ever. This…wasn't something suppose to happen at all. Relationships were usually strictly tabooed, but with theirs, most people assumed that it was just the separate pieces of the Heart responding with each other, even though he himself knew better.

But no one was going to stop them now, what's done is done. Thinking of the baby made him stop by the room they were keeping him, his eye becoming downcast at the sight of all these machines he was hooked up to. It was heartbreaking, seeing his tiny form struggle to breathe on his own even though he couldn't and had to have machines do it for him. Hopefully Allen's idea for coming here worked, because if it didn't, both parents would be crushed. If he was correct, Lenalee hasn't even seen their child. It would just be terrible if something were to happen while she was out cold.

Seeing the baby reminded him of this dream he had, not too long before he reunited with Allen. He was in it as well, so was Lenalee and Kanda. They had all been in some snow ridden wasteland. Then when the wind and snow actually began picking up, a mysterious figure had appeared in the center, the only thing giving away his identity being a few strands of black hair. Something like tattoos had glowed across his body, all of them appearing runic and tribal despite the fact that they were glowing green. And before he could've shown himself, the wind had taken him away, the dream ending soon after. But this couldn't be related. Could it?

Moving away, he proceeded to drop Allen off in the nearest un-crowded room. Placing him in a chair, he allowed him to slump down in it as he began walking away. Sighing, he himself situated himself outside the room, his back pressed to a wall before he slowly slid to the floor. Grunting in pain, he didn't realize how tired he was until he closed his eye, his mind drifting away into sleep as his sore muscles began relaxing. Maybe he'll just sleep for a little while.

*&*

Allen gave a start, his eyes snapping open as he sat up, his muscles screaming out for him to quit moving. And as much as he wanted to, he had to get up. He had to make sure those that he loved were alright. Getting up onto his weary feet, he cringed slightly at the pain that racked his body, his legs pleading that he stop. But he ignored it, instead choosing to press his hand against the wall as a means of support before he began moving away, hoping he would run into Komui or someone that could tell him where Lenalee was. And if…everything was alright with the baby.

Grunting in pain and wariness, he continued forward, eager to see his love. Panting from the exertion, he stumbled every now and again, only falling when his foot hit something. Falling forward, he moaned in pain as he began rubbing his head, slowly getting up to see Lavi out cold. Sighing, he gave the Bookman a harsh kick before moving up, eventually coming upon the room that his newborn son was being cared in.

Hand pressed against the window, he struggled to get a good look before actually entering the room. Staggering through, he ignored quizzical stares from the nurses and doctors were giving him as he made it to the incubator he was situated in. Hands touching the glass casing, he stared down at the weak and tiny form of his son. His skin was somewhat translucent, his fingers and toes so tiny compared to his own, his body appearing as fragile as delicate china. He wanted to just take him into his arms and shield him from every possible danger imaginable. But that couldn't save him from the dangers of being born early.

"Can I…" began Allen, unable to finish his question as he turned to the nearest nurse, eyes filled with expectance.

"Sir, I don't think it's a good idea. He's still in critical condition and you aren't doing too well yourself. Maybe if you come back later, he might be a little stronger then. Please, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." replied the nurse as she began tugging him away.

This didn't settle well with Allen, his confusion written in his eyes. When he tried pulling away, Lavi came in and restrained, telling him that he needed to relax. Though he wanted go against it, he unwillingly went along with it, allowing his best friend to pull him away. As soon as they were out of the room, he turned on his friend, anger in his expression.

"Allen, you need to relax for awhile. You're still tired and your body needs to rest."

"No, that can wait. I just want to be with him as much as I can before…"

"Don't say that. You have to be strong. Think of Lenalee. She needs you right now."

"Lavi, it's all I can do to keep myself from crying. Right now…I'm scared and I don't know if being here is going to help or not so I want to be there as much as I can. The end of this war is coming, I know it is, and I don't how much more denying I can do before it finally sinks in."

"What are you talking about? Everything is going to be fine, you'll see." chuckled Lavi as he gave him an affectionate punch in the shoulder. Allen's expression became downcast, his head turning away from Lavi.

"I think my role as the star in this play is drawing to a close. And whatever happens, I won't be coming back." replied Allen solemnly.

"What, you can't be serious. You can't just leave your fiancé and child like that! That's not right Allen, and you know it."

"It's not like I have a choice. I would give anything to have it any other way. But it's my duty to destroy that devil and every good villain has a hero. And I'm that hero whether I like it or not."

"Don't talk like that buddy! It's not even funny man."

"It's the truth. Come time for the end, I'm not coming back. And hopefully my son will be given a different fate then the one I've been given since the day I was cursed. I don't want this kind of life for him or for Lenalee. If I can change this world in any way I can, then I'm going to take it."

"This is just crazy. What makes you think you can just disappear, just like that?" demanded Lavi, his temper rising as the two of them stopped, Lavi turning on him as he looked at him bewildered.

"If I could have this any other way, I would. But my innocence is half of the heart, and when and if I get the other half, then I can end this. Even if the price is my life."

"I can't let you do this. I just can't. There's no way you can convince me to otherwise."

"Don't you try to stop Lavi, because this is what needs to be done. And if I am gone, I want you to take care of mine and Lenalee's son. We've been talking for the last couple weeks and we've come to the conclusion that we want you to be the godfather."

"Aw!!! I'm so honored. I can't believe…no this doesn't change the fact that this is wrong. You can't do this alone."

"I have to do this alone."

*&*

A small knock came from the door, Lenalee's gaze slowly turning to the door. Eyes half-lidded and dull as she watched Allen stagger in, a lopsided smile coming onto his face at the notice of his love awake. Allowing himself in, he slowly made it to her bedside, taking a seat beside her before running his fingers through her hair, a smile on his face. But this wavered when he noticed that she didn't react, didn't even look up at him. Instead she chose to stare straight ahead, her face and eyes seemingly lifeless.

"What's wrong?" asked Allen as he moved some hair out of her face, a look of worry in his expression.

"Where's my baby?" she mumbled, half whispering it to herself as she continued staring forward, her eyes still dull and un-lively like they normally were. Something was wrong.

"Where is my baby?" she asked again, ignoring the fact that Allen had grabbed her hand in-between his, growing more nervous by the way she was acting.

"He's in a different room right now. He's going to –"

"Why did they say he's probably not going to make it?" interrupted Lenalee as she pulled her hand out from his.

"What?"

"Why is my baby going to die?"

"No, that's not true. You can't think that. He's not going to die!"

"YES HE IS!!! MY BABY IS GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF ME!!!" cried Lenalee as she pushed Allen away, her eyes finally taking on an emotion. But this was one of anger.

"Calm down. Whoever told you that lied because he's going to be fine. And you want to know why? Because he's got your strength and my determination. He is going to just fine. You just have to believe." soothed Allen as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around tight as he rested his chin on one of her shoulders. It was then that he noticed that she was crying now, her smaller frame trembling.

"So…our child is a boy? Have you seen him? What does he look like?" asked Lenalee, her voice breaking every so often die to her tears.

"Well, it may just be me but I think he looks sort of like me. You know, a little more pink and minus the ugly scar. He's got your hair though but I'm not sure what color his eyes are. There always closed whenever I see him."

"Really?"

"Yes, honey, he is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, besides you of course. He's like an angel that you can't believe is real until you actually see him. He's going to fine. He's going to be just fine." reassured Allen, glad that she couldn't see him as a pained expression came on his face, a tear sliding down his cheek as he continued holding her. Not that he wasn't speaking the truth from his view, but the last part he wasn't so sure. But he wasn't about to let her know that.

"_All department heads and Generals are wanted for a meeting in the conference room immediately. I repeat, all department heads and Generals are wanted for a meeting in the conference room."_ echoed a voice through the intercom system over head, Allen quickly wiping his face away of the tear stain before pulling back.

Giving her a tender look, he gave her a kiss before walking away, waving over his shoulder as she went to lay back down. Walking out and closing the door behind him gently, he didn't realize the door didn't close all the way, stopped by a booted foot before it had a chance to close all the way. Pushing the door slowly open, Lavi quietly sidled in, an apprehensive expression on his face as he made his way over to Lenalee.

"What's wrong?" asked Lenalee upon noticing the nervous look on her friend's face.

"I think there's something you should know…"

*&*

Lavi had just entered the conference room midway through the discussion, extremely late on their accounts. Everyone turned their heads towards his direction, stopping in mid-speech just to see who it was. This caused the Bookman to become nervous, sort of skittish as he took the only remaining seat, one beside Reever. Allen stared at him, eyes questioning him on why he was so late. But he avoided the gaze, turning back to Komui, who had been speaking by the time he had made it.

"We have recently received a phone call from the Millennium Earl himself, stating something along the lines of 'this play is at its climax. And it can't be finished without all the actors and actresses there.' He also said that they are on their way, as we speak, to the Asian Branch. From what I see, we have only a matter of hours, at most, until their arrival."

"This is exactly what you predicted Komui." commented Reever as he shifted through papers, giving his superior an impressive look as he turned to Komui.

"Wait, sir, how did you know that something like this was going to happen?" asked Bak, his face still a little bumpy from the hives.

"Well maybe not exactly, but I wasn't going to have them get us unsurprised again. Is the project I had given you finished Bak?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"What project?" inquired Tiedoll, Zokalo looking at him boredly, wishing for this meeting to be over with.

A proud grin spread across the Chief's face as he grabbed this remote Bak was offering him. Pressing a few buttons, a hole opening in the center of the table as a object slowly rose up to all their views. Displaying in the center of the table was a suit of silver armor, the style in a classic European knight's armor only with a few minor changes. Everyone perked up slightly from this, confused on why they were looking at a suit of armor.

"Sir, care to explain this?" addressed Klaud, the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds.

"This is just a sample but nonetheless it's just as functional as the others. It's a suit of armor specifically designed for something like this. Its self repairing and can survive at least a couple shots of akuma blood bullets head on. But it isn't a guarantee that it can save you from the virus completely. It's light weight, and very durable. The consequences though is that it can only take a certain amount of damage at a certain velocity before falling apart. It may not seem much but watch it save your life during the heat of battle." explained Komui, the display rotating to show everyone the entire view of the silver armor pieces.

"If this is the only one, then I'll use it and go meet the Earl in battle by myself before he gets here. I'll make sure this madness ends." offered Allen, earning a sharp glare from Lavi and Komui, though neither one of them unsettled him.

"That won't be necessary Allen, we've managed to forge enough pieces for most of the people here. You'll need all the help you can get and it's too much for one person to do. Even if they are a general." countered Komui, the display sinking away soon after. With this out of the way, the talk began switching to strategy, plans being made for this expected confrontation.

The final act was about to begin.


	42. The Beginning is

Ch. 42:The Beginning is

"_When you walk away, you don't hear me say 'please, oh baby, don't go'. Simple and clean as they way you're making me feel tonight. It's hard to let it go."_

_-Hikaru Utada: Simple and Clean_

The white haired exorcist walked down the hallway, the intercom informing what the meeting had discussed, telling them all that battle was going to be taking place in the matter of hours. Sighing, he tightened some bandages that had been wrapped around his arm as he made it back to Lenalee's room. He had to tell her that she couldn't come and that she had to watch over their son while he was gone. Even though he was almost sure he wasn't coming back. But he wasn't going to let her know that.

Opening the door, he froze at the sight of Lenalee giggling, a little bundle in her arms that she was offering her finger to it. He just stood there for a moment, a smile growing across his lips as he watched her. She held their child close, one of hers fingers now ensnared by a tiny hand, the grip appearing weak and loose. But this didn't bother her for she continued making faces at it, her face brighter than he had seen it in hours, making it harder than it already was to unwillingly leave for battle.

She was meant to do this. She was already a natural in the little time she had spent with him, something he wasn't sure he'd get use to for awhile now. If anyone had to be spared from this fight to care for the baby, it would have to be her, no questions asked. He just hoped that she realized that too. Lifting her head up at the sound of the door of the door closing, she smiled upon noticing it was Allen.

"You weren't lying when you said he's beautiful. He does actually look a little like you. He even has your eyes."

"Really?" asked Allen surprised as he rushed over in hopes of finally seeing his eyes open for a moment but was disappointed to find that he was once again asleep.

"Sorry, he was awake when I got him a couple minutes ago. I guess he just got a little sleepy again." She answered, watching sadly and unwillingly as a nurse came and took him away, the time they had agreed upon now up. Now he was going back to the incubator that he would have to stay in until he was strong enough to breath and eat on his own.

"The doctor's say that coming here might have saved him but they're still not sure if he'll make it. But chances are growing every hour. They just want to make sure is all. Oh, and thankfully he doesn't have any innocence. So will just have to hope that he's fortunate enough to not have to go through a life like ours." replied Lenalee as Allen sat beside her, rubbing her arm while he nodded as a means of comfort. She was still a little shaken up but she seemed to be getting better.

"Lenalee… I don't think it would be a good idea for you to join us in this fight. You're not in a good condition for battle and neither should we both leave our son without one of us. That's why I've decided that you need to stay here, with the baby." explained Allen, a look of astonishment and anger in her features as she turned her body to face him.

"No. I may not be in the best conditions, but I'm not leaving you again."

"I'm sorry Lenalee but I'm going to have to put my foot down. There is no way in hell I'm going to let you go. You're not physically inept to do something like this. Someone is going to have to take care of our child and it might as well be you."

"Why me? You can just as easily stay here with me. Let the others handle this, let them do the fighting for once."

"It's not that simple. I have to do this. If not, this war will never come to an end."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can't tell you for sure but something in my very fiber of my being tells me that I'm the only one who can put this war on a hold. Maybe even to an end. I won't know if I don't try. I have to do this love. You've got to think of our baby."

"So do you! I don't want our child to be fatherless." cried Lenalee as she looked away, a part of her telling her that he was speaking the truth even though she didn't want to believe it. "Are we just going to keep calling 'the baby' or are we going to think of a name for him?" asked Lenalee through tears, hoping that would prolong the time they had with each other. Even though she already had a plan in mind.

"Well…I don't know. Whatever you want will work with me. I'll love it either way."

"Then Komurin." She suggested, merely as a joke to prove him wrong.

"No."

"I thought you said –"

"Anything but that name. If it doesn't work for a robot then it's definitely not going to work for a baby."

"Calm down, I was only playing. How about…Allen."

"Lenalee, we've already went through this. I don't want our child named after me."

"Why not? I want him to be named after you. He's going to end up like you. I know he will."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Because he's your son." She concluded with triumph, Allen feeling a little touched but still adamant about it.

"That may be true, in-avertable, but I don't want him to have to live up my name just because it's my name. I want him to be his own person."

"Fine, be that way. But please think about."

"I will," said Allen before Komui popped his head in, instructing him that it was best that he got ready. Sighing, he ran a hand down her cheek before reluctantly pulling away, casually pocketing the red anklets that had been sitting on a counter as he moved to the door. Pausing, he clenched his fists as he bowed his head, taking in deep breaths.

"I love you Lenalee." He said over his shoulder, tears streaming down his face.

"I love you too Allen." She replied as she blew him a kiss, one that he pretended to grab and drew close to his heart before leaving, leaving Lenalee to go back to her crying. Though an out of place glint was in her eyes, one that showed defiance. One that wasn't about to sit around and do nothing.

"_When we are older you'll understand what I meant when I said 'No, I don't think life is quite that simple."_

_-Hikaru Utada: Simple and Clean_

_*&*_

"_Please, please forgive me, but I won't be home again. Maybe someday you'll loo__k up, and, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:_

'_Isn't something missing?'"_

_-Evanescence: Missing_

Allen was suiting up the armor pieces that Chief Komui himself had designed, taking a moment to fuse it with his Noah armor. In a slowly growing flash of light, the simple reinforced iron morphed and twisted so that it fitted him more across the chest, the designs reminiscing musical notes, using up the last of the power that had remained before the 14th willingly threw his existence away. The Order's crest was emblazed over his left breast, showing that he was an exorcist through and through. His white cowl stuck out from in between the pieces of armor, the chain mail resting over the sleeve and his shirt. Only his left arm remained bare, ensuring that he could easily activate his innocence.

Sighing warily, he slipped on an armored gauntlet over his right hand before adjusting his leather soled boots, making sure that Lenalee's anklets were around his own ankles. He was nervous and a little bit scared, this being the final battle and all. This was it, the all or nothing fight. The fight that would determine the course of history and what the fate of the world would pane out to. The one he would not make it back from. He hadn't mentioned this to anyone but he knew that this would be his last fight, and the Earl would be the one to draw his last breath. Just like how he was going to be the one to end the Earl's life, if not his existence. He would do whatever it takes to make sure that that psychotic incarnation of the devil was defeated. But how could someone go about destroying time itself?

Shaking the foreboding thoughts aside, Allen made a few final adjustments before leaving the room he had changed in, Timcampy following after him in a flutter of golden wings. He walked down the desolate halls in silence, the only sound coming from the clank of his armor hitting against itself. He looked forward sullenly, thoughts of Lenalee and their still unnamed new born son coming to mind. He was fighting for them, they would be the ones whose future he would make better. Their son didn't need to live in a world filled with demons nor did Lenalee need to suffer any longer. He just hoped that this worked and that he could make the world for them that the brighter. He would keep them in his heart to the very end, the memory of Lenalee's smiling face once she had told him that they had had a son pictured in his head.

Making it to the entrance, he took a moment to remain in the shadows and watch all that was going on. Komui was directing everyone, which was literally thousands upon thousands of people. Finders clad in rather simple armor but equipped with lances and shields designed to drive away or ensnare akuma if the situation called for were everywhere, creating a sea of white all around. Komui himself was in armor, the design manufactured to resemble classical Chinese armor, while Allen's resemble more of a classical European knight, like the ones from King Arthur's round table except without a helmet. Bak stood beside him, helping Komui as much as he could while he tended to the exorcists.

Everyone was fitted with armor designed to resemble their nationality, all bearing the symbol of the Order somewhere on their armor, each designed to block akuma bullets. For some it would save their lives, and for others, it could possible get in the way. Only time would tell if it would be an asset or a liability. Most of his comrades looked grim, each harboring similar thoughts towards this soon to be epic battle. They too feared that they might not come back and knew for certain that this was going to be a very red day.

"You ready for this moyashi?" asked Kanda as he stepped out of the shadows and looked at Allen sternly, a hand resting on Mugen's handle. He was wearing old samurai armor, with the exception of a helmet. Allen found something different in the samurai's voice, a hint of respect following his words despite the fact that he had called him a beansprout, the scowl still on his face. Allen smiled, knowing that Kanda would never in his life admit to something like that.

"Yeah, I am. Though…I don't think I'll be coming back from this fight." answered Allen as he looked away with a pained expression on his face.

"Tch, you better come back moyashi because if you don't, I'll personally go and drag you out of hell and then send you right back for being a damn martyr." yelled Kanda before he stomped off, an air of annoyance surrounding him as he did so. But in his place came Lavi, clad in seemingly un-matching pieces armor and his trademark scarf.

"What was that all about?" asked Lavi as the two of them watched Kanda sulk in a corner that was farther away from where they stood, glaring at everyone that stopped to look at him.

"He's just worried is all. He'll get over it." replied Allen as he turned to look at Lavi, who gave an unnoticeable start. Standing beside him wasn't the young boy that had managed to make to the Order one foggy night, sent by Marian Cross. Nor was he the boy who they had all thought was dead back in China, or the one that had fought to gain control over the 14th Noah. The person beside him was a man, albeit one of almost 17, whose silver eyes showed a wisdom beyond his years, one that was willing to lose it all for the sake of his fellow human race.

"What, what's wrong?" asked Allen, having noticed Lavi slightly jump.

"Oh nothing, I was just shuddering at the thought of Yu actually worried. If he's even worried, then it's a cause for us all to be worried." lied Lavi as he began rubbing of his head nervously, giving his best friend a cheeky smile.

"Don't worry Lavi, I'm going to see to this to the very end. There's nothing you need to worry about besides making sure you stay alive. But…how's Lenalee? She's not still mad at me is she?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say that. But you did basically forbid her to come out and join us in this brutal battle. I know she would rather die than have you simply go and throw away your life so carelessly."

"I know it was wrong of me to deliberately deny her to join us, it's just that if it has to be one of us, it might as well be me. Someone has to look after our son after this battle, and Lenalee is a natural mother, while I hardly have a clue what to do. It's better this way."

Before Lavi had a chance to argue further, Allen walked off, making his way through the crowds and giving out words of comfort to his fellow comrades. Lavi let out a sigh as he crossed his arms as best as he could across his chest and took a moment to watch and wonder how Allen didn't make it seem like he was scared. But any trained Bookmen knew fairly well that he was inwardly trembling, fearing that he was, indeed, going to lose it all tonight. Just like he could tell that someone was coming from behind. Cocking his head over his shoulder, Lavi allowed himself to smirk as he figured out who it was that was trying to hide in the shadows.

"You might want to stay close to me it you don't want to be discovered by Allen. Here, I have what you need, though, he might figure it out as soon as he's on the battle field." said Lavi as he pulled out twin anklets from within his armor and handed it to the figure clad from head to toe in Chinese styled armor that hid the person's true gender. The person grabbed the anklets swiftly, violet eyes staring through the helmet visor before bending down and slipping the anklets around their ankles. Lavi smiled and began heading to the amassing Order members, each and every one of them preparing to set off.

Tyki looked amongst the group nervously, Katie and Thomas looking equally as nervous, if not more. To them all it would be their very first major battle, and possibly their last. They couldn't help but show their apprehension, Allen noticing this and quickly making his way towards them. He didn't need any of them to buckle under the heat of battle, especially Tyki. If he could lift their spirits and at least get their minds focused on something else, then at least they would perform somewhat better in battle. But some form of relief swept across their faces as soon as they noticed his presence coming towards them.

"You all ready for this?" asked Allen as he clamped Tyki and Thomas on the shoulder and gave Katie an encouraging smile. She gave him a weak smile that he willingly accepted, despite the fact that it had been delivered sheepishly and her body was trembling slightly.

"Ready as I'll ever be." remarked Tyki as he stepped away from under Allen's arm and proceeded to take one final drag of his cigarette before they were off while pulling his hood on over his head and walked away. Allen watched his apprentice go, understanding that the nerves were starting to get to him. He understood that, better than most.

Turning to the other two, he gave them each a pat on the back before his attention was brought forward as Fou began opening the door. Immediately everything and everyone fell silent, heads turning to the opened gate way. Allen's stomach fell as the situation truly sank in. He wasn't going to be coming back from this, he thought. He wouldn't be seeing Lenalee or their son again. Not in this life time at least.

*&*

"_We were the victims of ourselves. Maybe the children of a lesser God. Between Heaven and Hell. Heaven and Hell."_

_-30 Seconds to Mars: Kings and Queens_

The skies were dark, darker than usual. Snowflakes barely recognizable were beginning to tumble down, the field before them already blanketed in a very thin layer of snow. In the far distance tiny spots could be seen, like tiny ants, increasing in number. Most of the Finders were on horses, each one looking to the distance in mixed fear and anxiety. Komui, Reever, and Bak were all stationed amongst them, issuing out orders to their assigned squadrons as the exorcists began pushing up to the front line. Allen stood within the center of the front lines, taking a thoughtful moment to look at the field and the steady but slow growth of the approaching enemy.

"There's so many of them." whispered Lavi, his voice wavering as he stared out in fear, his hands gripping and re-gripping his hammer. Allen noticed this as well, his eye having begun going berserk the moment they stepped onto the field. So many souls needing salvation, it was slightly overwhelming. He hoped, though he knew he would not, he would be able to save all those unfortunates souls that had been unlucky enough to be ensnared by the Earl's persuasion.

"Well…wish me luck." said Lavi as he gave Allen a waned smile before enlarging his hammer and signaling some of the exorcist, among which were Krory, Miranda, Timothy, and Chaoji, and finders to follow him. They were planned to deliver an attack to the side of the Earl's army while some hit them dead on and some came from the opposite side. Hopefully they would be of great help in time.

Allen nodded at his departure before he pulled out his half of the army, this group preparing to hit dead on while the remainder prepared to set off to attack the other side. Amongst his group was Tyki, Katie, Thomas, Marie, and Kanda, as well as Bak and a large portion of finders. This was it, there was no turning back now. Not like it was ever an option to begin with. Nodding to all his fellow comrades, he led the charge forward, hoping that he wouldn't be leading them to their untimely death.

Taking the lead, he kept a steady pace as he moved forward, a look of raw determination on his face despite the fact that he was afraid. But he couldn't create this falsetto that depicted that he was afraid. If he were show fear, then those around him would begin to waver and sooner or later fall to the same anxiety he was feeling. No, he had to show that he was unafraid, that he was willing to look death in the eyes and laugh. So he kept his face calm and stern, determined to get this at least started. He wasn't sure how it was going to end though.

No one said a word to one another, everyone residing with the fact that they would lose their nerves if they were to do so. So an eerie silence followed them, each of them giving out their last moment prayers to God in hopes that they would at least get accepted into heaven if they were to die. And soon, before they knew it, they were in the sights of thousands upon thousands of akuma, most of which ranged from level twos and threes, a handle full of level ones and a scattered bunch of level fours. Allen cringed momentarily in pain, his eye beginning to shed tears of blood at the sight of so many unfortunate souls.

Ignoring the continuous stream of irony liquid, Allen activated Crown Clown for probably the last time before turning back to his group. Each one stared at him in earnest, all of them knowing that their lives and their family's lives were resting in the hands of one boy, albeit one who had experienced more tragedy in one life time than most people can say they have. But that was pushed aside for this moment, one that would change the world forever if they were to succeed. And the only way that seemed capable of happening was if Allen was to lead them all and defeat the devil incarnation known as the Millennium Earl.

"Alright, well I don't have a speech or last wish planned but I do want you to know that I'm glad I got to meet each and every one of you. Know that you are all in my heart and that I won't stop walking until I can't no longer. I will see to this until the very end. Good luck and good bye. Hopefully we'll meet again in God's opened arms." said Allen, a single tear falling down his cheek as he kept his eyes shut tight, a pained expression on his face as he took in a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, his eyes snapped opened suddenly before he quickly turned around to face forward and leapt forward with all his might, Crown Belt propelling him forward, subconsciously trying to activate the Dark Boots, quickly realizing that they had been nothing but decoys.

The discovery only made his stomach and heart sink but he had to ignore it. He was quickly approaching the line of akuma, and there was no turning back. Gritting his teeth, he let out a howling cry as he brought out his sword of exorcism and met with the first wave of akuma. Their quick and rapid explosions served as a cue for the others to begin pilling in, both sides sinking in to surround the large horde of akumas. Everything seemed to becoming a blur, noise drowned out by the succession of bullets being fired by the akuma. He noticed that his group was dispersing soon after, Thomas sending out arrows to the sky that trailed after the akuma, Katie shepherding them over to Tyki for him to destroy. Marie was staying close to Bak, ensuring his safety as he began taking out the akuma he could manage. Kanda had disappeared, seemingly to fight the more difficult akumas.

He didn't take time to worry about the samurai's safety; he knew he could take care of himself. Now he needed to find Lenalee, if he was correct then she should be here on the battle field, doing exactly he didn't want her to do. But what could he do, she was already here, she might as well help. He just wished she hadn't. What if neither one of them survived? What would happen to their son then? Pushing such foreboding thoughts aside, Allen swerved out of the way of an oncoming round of akuma bullets.

Falling back onto his feet, the white haired General ran forward, forced to jump out of the way as Lavi ran past him. He had his hammer drawn, his weapon smacking an akuma clear away from his path towards Tryde. Allen didn't take the time to stop and look though. He had pressing matters to attend to. Like the Earl for that matter. But it was getting increasingly more and more difficult to stick with this fact when his eye was going out of control. It was getting so bad that he was having trouble focusing on what he was seeing, his eye spinning out of control. It was starting to drive him crazy but he couldn't get distracted with it.

All around him carnage was taking place, explosions sounding off left and right. Blood was flying every, dyeing the thinly covered grown a pinkish color; some parts were so bad that it was actually red. Cries both of pain and anger filled the air, seemingly amplified by the howling of the wind. It was a disaster zone down there, bodies both of flesh and machine falling left and right. Those that continued to pose a problem were the abundance of level 4 akumas. Every so often one would show itself from amongst the crowds, popping up unexpectedly as it quickly leveled a pack of finders before returning into the up-risen smoke that covered the battle ground.

It was hard to tell from where they were in this battle but from the outside looking in, the Order wasn't doing as well as they would have hoped. If you thought about it, it was sort of like the battle of Thermopylae, where the one Spartan army had only a force of 300 while the Persian had a large fighting force. Though the actual number of fighting combatants was surely different, the concept was still the same. He just hoped they weren't going to meet the same fate like the Spartans had all those thousands of years ago. Hopefully the hand of fate and lady luck were on their side.

Swerving to the as an explosion of snow blew up beside him, Allen covered his face as a blast of wind blew past him, sending snow into his eyes. Like he wasn't already in a bad enough position. Now vulnerable, a force pushed him off his feet, sending him back a few feet before he hit the ground. Sliding across the snow, Allen managed to somersault back onto his feet and bent down slightly to bring himself to a halt, his eyes narrowing as a figure stepped through the dense smoke that had all but covered the battlefield now.

"Silly boy, you think you can change the fate of this filthy race? There's no use trying, all of human kind's fate is obsolete. What makes you think you'll have any part in shaping the path of mankind?" asked Mightra, his body still covered in his black costume, even when he was in battle. His face remained hidden, though Allen was positive that the Noah was giving him a look of belligerence, which only served to make him angry. Why the hell was this Noah stopping him? He didn't even know hardly anything about him and he had the nerve to stop him while he was still trying to find the Earl. Someone was going to get hurt.

" Get out of my way, unless you're willing to stand and fight." demanded Allen, earning a chuckle on the Noah's part. This guy was obviously smug with himself to be laughing amidst a battle.

"You amuse me Allen Walker. To think, I wasn't going to fight anyone while I was here. I simply came for the show. But seeing you all fired up and heated, makes me want to reconsider. No one has stirred up feelings such as these before; no one has showed such determination while in the midst of evil. You are certainly a god amongst man." replied Mightra as he turned his back to Allen, staying silent for a moment as if lost in thought.

"I'm not a god, nor am I anything close to it. I'm simply human, one who wishes for this holy war to end. No one is going to stop me from seeing to that." said Allen as he continued glaring at Mightra, the Noah still keeping his back to him.

"Good answer. But one of a mortal," stated Mightra as he pulled back the black costume, revealing the identity he had been hiding for so long. Turning around to face Allen, he was greeted by a determine Allen, who's fortitude had only doubled upon seeing his face. It only made a smile come upon his face at how angry the boy appeared. Standing before him was a young man with short jet black hair, his whole face and body adorn with mutilating scars. One of his eyes was left shut due to an aggravating scar that ran down his left eyebrow to his cheekbone. Overall, the scars showed a menacing side to this once seemingly impassive Noah, hinting that he had once been one for battle a long time ago.

"And all mortals can be so easily broken," started Mightra as his right arm began changing to resemble Allen's anti-akuma weapon in its clawed state. His other arm was changing to look more sword like, reminiscent of Mugen in some strange way. "Answer me this Allen Walker, do you think you can beat an adversary of many 'talents'?"

*&*

"_I'm gonna fight for what's right. Today I'm speaking my mind. And if it kills me tonight, I'll be ready to die"_

_-Skillet: Hero _

Lavi fell hard to the earth, snow flying up into the sky as he slid across the white powder. Blood smeared across the ground, leaving a trail showing where he landed and how far he had slid. Cursing under his breath before gritting his teeth, Lavi slowly got up to his feet, using his mighty hammer as a crutch as he wiped away the blood that was trailing down his cheek due to a cut. Tryde was leisurely coming his way, arms folded across his chest casually, as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Come on exorcist, where's your fighting spirit?" said Tryde casually as he kneed Lavi in the chest, causing his stomach to internally convulse and sending bile and blood up his throat, forcing him to vomit it out before him. This made the Noah grin as he stepped back, motioning his hands in several gestures showing his mastery in the art of taekwondo, jujutsu, shaolin kung fu, and wushu. Then he fell into a tiger stance, his eyes beckoning as he waited for his opponent to make the next move.

Gritting his teeth further, Lavi tightened his grip around the hammer and swung forward, the head of his hammer slamming into Tryde's blocking arm. A ripple ran through the Noah's arm but he was otherwise unaffected by the blow. Shifting his weight on his opposite foot, Tryde sent his foot to the side of Lavi's head, knocking him once more off his feet. But instead of falling like a pile of bricks, he spun off the kick and summoned his seals. Mashing his fire stamp, he sent a fiery serpent right into the Noah, buying him some time to collect himself. But not enough.

Tryde came walking out of the flames casually, his charcoal burnt skin slowly regenerating across his body as he made his way over to Lavi. But he didn't look all too happy, his hands sparking up in flames as he drew them back, the flames starting at his palms before running all the way up his upper arm, his whole body setting a blaze as he cracked his knuckles. This only made Lavi's stomach fall, his expression turning momentarily desperate as he re-gripped his hammer, not wanting to appear hesitant.

'_I can't run away from this, even if I know I can't win. I have to do this, for Allen and for Lenalee. And most certainly my godson. I have to protect the people I love, even if it's going to be the death of me!' _thought Lavi, unaware that his swear and promise had increased the bond he had with his innocence, his mind taking the few steps towards truly accepting the power of the innocence. Its true powers were begin to awaken.

Charging forward, despite his aching muscles, Lavi rose up his hammer and sent it crashing down across Tryde's left shoulder. Snagging some of the flames, the heat of the fire running up the head of the hammer and down to the handle grip. Smoke rose from where the metal from the handle made contact with the gauntlets that incased his hands, thankful that was at least protecting him. Spinning off the swing, he dug the tip of the hammer head into the ground, throwing all his weight up and forward as he slammed his feet into the Noah's chest. Pushing forward with all his strength, he sent the Noah back a few feet, knocking him off his feet and across the snow.

Breathing heavy and already fairly tired, he attempted catching his breath when a flamed hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground easily despite the fact that the armor he was wearing was weighing him down. Struggling pitifully, he couldn't stop the scream from escaping from his throat as the exposed flesh at his throat began smoldering before catching a flame. The smell of burning flesh filled Lavi's nostrils, sending his stomach through a crazy roller coaster ride, his mind spinning around loopy. Look how long he lasted after he had sworn to fight for the future. What was it, 30 seconds? How sad, he wasn't going live long enough to make a difference. At least he was going to know that he had actually been considered a soldier in this war instead of someone standing on the side lines recording. Gramps would've been beyond furious if he was still around.

The life threatening wounds at his neck that continued to worsen started pouring vast amounts of blood out at tremendous amounts, the crimson substance sliding down his dented and dirt covered armor. His face paled even more than it already was, his breath hitching in his throat as he felt this strange feeling run across his body, this connection forming inside his head and traveling throughout the rest of his body. The blood that had once been at his neck traveled up his hammer, transforming the cracked and worn out surface.

The hammer head lengthen, veins running along the weapon as the blood filled in, showing the blood running through the weapon. The tip at the top curled and broke along the middle, forming a hook shaped obtrusion along the top. The handle lengthened to an undesirable length, the rod becoming the same size as him, forcing him to have to wield it with two hands than one. A colorless orb attached itself to the hook obtrusion at the top of the hammer, appearing to be easily excisable if he found out what it did.

A blinding flash appeared after that, sending the two of them away from each other and tumbling through the snow. Lavi rolled pre-carelessly, a hand to his throat as he cried out in pain. His neck was starting to heal itself, the wounds shrinking and warping to take on the shape of a cross. The pain was white hot, itchy and unbearable as it repaired itself. But soon enough it was gone, a choker now wrapped around his neck snuggly, hiding away the bulk of the cross scar. An empty amulet rested in the middle of the plain red metallic substance, appearing to have no specific purpose at the moment.

Slowly getting up onto his feet, Lavi rubbed his neck unconsciously as he gazed down at his hammer. It seemed lighter, as if it was truly a piece of his body that he could easily extend out. Grinning at this, the orb at the top of the hammer glowed, the color changing into a bright blue color, the object shooting out from its resting place at the top to side, part of his mind telling him what he had to do. Effortlessly he smacked the orb of glowing blue light, the object exploding into a bunch of various blue shards before shooting at his hammer, his weapon taking on a more aquatic look to it as water began spouting out the hook protrusion.

Giving his mighty hammer a few swings, he charged forward, feeling strangely repowered and strengthened, a part him believing he could actually beat this Noah. But that wasn't the Bookman part of him. It was the exorcist he un-doubtfully was.

*&*

"_I keep it caged but I can't control it. So stay away from me, the beast is ugly. I feel the rage and I just can't hold it……I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun. I must confess that I feel like a monster."_

_-Skillet: Monster_

Jasdevi and Krory threw themselves at each other, neither one of them caring that they were doing more harm than good as they didn't take into account that there were others surrounding them. And neither seemed to be caring about whether or not they were hitting each other. They just fought because they could, sending punches and kicks at each other like there was no tomorrow. And maybe there was. But only time could tell the outcome of this battle.

"You're getting slow old man." taunted Jasdevi as he sent Krory flying with a crack of his hair.

"And you're still a brat, same as ever." countered Krory as he grabbed a hold of his hair as it came rebounding back. Once in the clear, he sang his vampire like fangs into the Noah's shoulder, clamping onto him his fiercest. But this cost him, Jasdevi taking advantage of his opening. Punching him in the neck, he sent Krory to the ground in a flail of armor. Crashing to the snow covered ground, he gritted his teeth in pain before lurching forward as the Noah sent his hair into his body.

Gritting his teeth further, he accidentally bit his lip in an attempt to distract himself of the pain. Jasdevi's hair was keeping him pinned to the floor, the flowing blonde locks piercing through his armor and into his body.

"Give up filthy vampire?"

"…Ne-Never!" growled Krory as he swiped clean through the Noah's hair. Unbinding him from the Noah, he got to his feet while Jasdevi looked to his hair in horror. Ignoring the pain the racked his body, he allowed his thoughts and his innocence to sink into the primitive state he had once fell into back inside the Noah's Ark. Back when he had become an unrelenting monster.

Growling out in pain, he endured the pain that raked his entire body as the blood from his wounds began covering his body. And before he knew it, his body was immersed in his own blood, his features becoming more demonic than they already were. Alright, it was time to do or die, win or lose, he would fight until he drew his very last breath. He would stop this Noah by using any means necessary, knowing that this fight would be his last.

*&*

"_I'll face myself, to cross out what I've become. Erase myself, and let go of what I've done."_

_-Linkin Park: What I've Done_

Slashing out at akuma like it was nothing, Kanda charged through their lines as he continued taking them down with no questions asked. Blood not of his own covered his body, most notably on his chest plate and face. His sharp grey eyes darted everywhere, leading him to the akuma his blade would devour, taking with it their blood. Then suddenly he felt someone enter his head, causing him to falter from an attack that would've killed an akuma on the spot.

'_Hello Kanda, Yu. It's nice to see you again. And look, I brought you a friend.'_

"Wisely!" growled Kanda as he whipped around to see the Noah of Wisdom standing before him, his companion standing beside him causing him to clench his teeth in rage.

"Oh don't forget all about Alma now, he's been just dying to see you again ever since your last visit didn't end so well."

Kanda gnashed his together, wishing he was somewhere else at the moment. It was true, the last time he had seen Alma, things hadn't ended well. But he had to get over it, for the sake of the Order and for the sake of himself. Tightening his grip on mugen, he sprang forward, drawing his sword back as he did so before lopping off Alma's head in a single swift motion. This is obviously shocked the Noah, his eyes widening as he watched his dummy disappeared soon after.

Having kept his eyes closed the entire time, the pain expression still remained on his face as he slowly opened his eyes, his frame shaking as he looked up at the Noah intimately. But the Noah soon recovered himself and soon enough, for the first time in his entire career as an exorcist, Kanda's face showed fear as his mind became clouded and Wisely's appearance soon became replaced with that of Alma's. He probably would've known that this was just another one of his mind tricks if he hadn't been so mortified. After all, it's not every day that you chop off the head of an imposter poising as your best friend and then suddenly having then standing in front of you as if nothing had happened.

"Grumpy as ever I see. Well why don't we try turning that frown upside down, eh Yu." He said, his voice just as innocent as it had been when they were children. Shaking slightly, he re-gripped mugen, willing himself to move as the two of them charged at each other. Sending his sword crashing down, Alma blocked it easily, ignoring the fact that the sharp blade had sliced his arm and was now threatening to chop his hand clean off.

"Temper, temper. You always did let that get in the way whenever we trained together Yu." mocked Alma as he spun on his heel and sent a powerful punch to Kanda's chest, denting the armor while sending him backwards. Spinning through the air, the samurai landed on his feet and used mugen as a means of slowing himself down.

Before he had a chance to recover though, Alma was already upon him, punching him in the face brutally. Moving with the punches, Kanda struggled to fight back, his arms feeling like dead weight as he tried swinging them around. Most of his swings missed, ending up short as he tried slicing him. But one did manage to get him but not by much; it was stopped before it even had the chance to sink into his shoulder. Hand encased around the blade, Alma's face scrunched up to form a malicious smile, catching him off guard and allowing himself the chance to yank mugen out of his hands.

Gripping the sword in his hands, Alma looked to the stun Kanda before outstretching his hand and sending him falling back by an unknown force. Knocked to his back with his breath gone, Kanda coughed up the blood that had since risen in his throat. How pathetic he was, laying there while Alma was coming at him with his own weapon. But he was unable to get up, something keeping him pinned there to the ground. And when he soon realized why, it became too late.

Before he knew, he felt the sharp tip of his own sword stick through his chest plate and into his stomach, Alma running the blade forward and up his body. This caused Kanda to scream out in pain, the sound similar to a tortured animal begging for death. But instead Alma was letting him suffer, running the blade up his chest, swerving up the side of his neck but missing the jugular vein, up his right cheek, across the bridge of his nose and ending at the tip of his left eyebrow. Blood fell into his left eye, momentarily blinding him as he struggled to blink back the beads of crimson red. He was in so much pain, pain that he wished so desperately to just heal so that he wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore.

Sinking the blade into his right leg, Alma bent down and smiled at Kanda, running a hand gingerly down his left cheek. Seeing the look of wild anger in his eyes, he bent forward and whispered into his ear.

"You see, this is how I felt when you left me all alone to die. That only thing that's different though is that you suffer while I didn't" at this Alma began to laugh, an insane laughter that was driving Kanda crazy. And before he knew it, everything was starting to get dimmer and dimmer. He fought to stay awake, knowing that this battle was far from over. He couldn't die, not yet. Not until he saw her again, whoever she was. He would not be defeated so easily. That's why when Alma began walking away, he didn't notice Kanda slowly clench his fist as he slowly got up, his eyes changing to show that he was tapping into his life line so that he could gain more power.

He wasn't about to be defeated by some stinking Noah pretending to be his best friend.

**To be continued…**

_Author's Note: I do not own any songs that appeared in this chapter. Please Review_


	43. the End

Ch. 43: the End

"_To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim. This is war."_

_-30 seconds to Mars: This is war_

Allen dodged a swing from Mightra, struggling to escape the Noah before he was killed. He had the Earl to deal with after all. He didn't have time for any of his family members. Blocking another jab, he tumbled to the floor, getting more and more desperate by the minute. But then, out of nowhere, Lau Shimin launched himself at the Noah, sending the two of them sliding across the snow. Confused, Allen turned to see Klaud Nine casually make her way to his side, cracking her whip that caused Lau Shimin to punch.

"I can take him from here Allen. You just go find the Earl and end this madness." said Klaud as she began walking away over to her innocence, assisting him in any way she could.

Watching them fight for a moment, he soon ran past them as he silently began praying for the General's safety. Mightra wasn't exactly the easiest Noah to fight. Sighing, he cut through even more akuma, dancing through their ranks as he struggled to find the Earl. His eye continued to spin in revolutions, the red tears continuing to shed as he struggled against the urge to destroy every last one of them. But he had to ignore it, it wasn't them that he was after but their creator, the devil himself.

But a roar to his side caused him to freeze, his head slowly turning in that direction to see an enormous akuma towering over them all, closing in on him fast. Eyes widening as he noticed a hand reaching out to him, he didn't have time to run when the hand wrapped around him. Lifting him off his feet, Allen struggled against the akuma's humanoid hand as it slowly crushed the armor. Gritting his teeth in pain, he opened his eyes to narrow slits and noticed that it had grabbed hold of others. Two Finders, Thomas, and Reever were in its grasps.

Planning out a means of escape and rescue, Allen's breath hitched in his chest as he noticed someone land onto the giant akuma. Eyes widening in shock, he had to avert his gaze as the person's armor caught the rays of the sun and glittered from the light. _'No. Please let it not be true. Please let it not be who I think it is.'_ Prayed Allen as he wiggled harder, growling as he did so. The person perched on the akuma jumped up into the air and zoomed off to where Thomas was, quickly freeing him from its grasp before heading off for Reever. But as its cost it killed the two finders, squeezing them to death before dropping them to the ground forgotten as they went to grab the mysterious assailant. Freeing Reever soon after, the person dove out of way of an oncoming hand just in time but not fast enough to miss the whole hand.

Spinning from the whack, a piece of the person's armor fell to the ground below. But the person didn't seem bothered by it, instead choosing to continue sending both Thomas and Reever to the ground. But as they did this, the hand of the akuma ensnared itself around the bundle of flying armor, yanking them back up to the akuma's face. Struggling just as much as he was, the person suddenly began glowing, Allen's innocence wavering momentarily before moving onto the person that had summoned it, to the person who had called upon its power.

In a burst of light, the other person trapped was free and now high in the sky. The armor covering most of the person's body had fallen, reveling the lethal form of a young woman in a shimmering white kimono as she threw her head back to drop the helmet that had once covered her head. She held the sword of exorcism in her grasp, her silver eye glittering as she shot forward, successfully severing the hand that had held Allen. Catching him before he had a chance to fall, she grabbed him by the straps of his armor before zooming back up, handing him back his sword as the remainder of his power returned to him.

"Lenalee what are you doing here?! This isn't good for your health." asked the bewildered Allen as she continued weaving to and from the large akuma.

"I'm here to fight at your side and to fight for what I love. Don't worry, I'll manage." She replied as they zoomed past the underbelly of the creature. Sticking up his sword, Allen dug it through its husky shell of a skin as they continued to fly under it. Splitting it in half, it soon fell, exploding into ash before it touched the ground.

Hovering over the battlefield, Allen took a moment to look at it all for a chance. Everything as he had once believe was true; everything scattered and chaotic, and it appeared as if they were losing. They probably were too but he couldn't let that stop him. Even if all else fails, he knew what he had to do. Gritting his teeth, his attention suddenly switched to a strange burst of light to his right, a howling sound coming from it. His eyes widen in mild horror from the sound, Lenalee instinctively heading over towards the direction the cry came from.

*&*

"_I need something to pick me up. I've tried but nothing is working. I won't stop, I won't say I've had enough. Tonight I start the fire. Tonight I break away."_

_-Three Days Grace: Break_

Roaring up at the sky, Kanda charged at the imposter with the fierceness of a demon, his eyes harboring feelings of blood lust. His armor had repaired itself though that didn't prevent his wounds from continuing to bleed. His left side corner of his face was blood smeared, the cut that ran along his face, down his neck and stopping at his chest still bleeding his strength away. But that wasn't going to stop him, not until he killed the Noah.

Leaping into the air effortlessly, he readjusted his hold around Mugen before sending it crashing down onto the Alma imposter. Cleaving his shoulder, he dug the sword in deeper before spinning off the move, kicking his adversary away from his sword. Falling to the floor, he turned his gaze nervously to the side as the blade of Mugen barely missed him, his reflection beating off the blood stained blade of the katana. By now, despite the little effort it seemed to take in order to execute those moves, he was breathing heavily, leaning on the handle shaft of his weapon. But he would not fall in defeat, he'd rather be cut down honorably than to be killed without having a chance to defend himself. That's what he would do for the Noah.

He still had an honor that he upheld to.

"Get up…" mumbled Kanda as he shakingly straightened up, glaring down at the Noah weakly before pulling his sword out and pointed it at him with a mild threat in his eyes. This surprised the Noah imposter still holding Alma's image, having thought that he surely would be enduring a more tortuous move instead of the one he was given. But regardless though he got to his feet, his wounds healing rapidly as he looked to Kanda smugly.

"Don't you dare…smile at me…you damn Noah." growled Kanda as he got into a battle stance before charging at him once more.

Swinging his sword one way, feigning the move for another, he sent a long slash down the fake Alma's chest. Gritting his teeth in pain, he ignored it and continued blocking the sword before sending a few punches and kicks his way. This dance lasted until Kanda missed step, giving him the perfect opportunity to execute a better and more worth wild move. Slamming his palm in front of Kanda's face, he got the exorcist into a head lock and began twisting his head ever so slowly, causing him to cry out in pain.

Slowly the pain intensified, his neck threatening to snap at the rate it was being forced to move. If he had down it fast, his neck would have surely snapped. Whether he lived or died from it, he did not. One thing was for sure though, he had no plans of finding out. Growling out in defiance, he threw the Noah away from him, reeling around as he brandished his katana. Energy transforming from his sword flowed into his opposite arm, producing a transparent katana in his opposite hand, every bit as real as the real sword he held in his right hand. Panting, he charged forward, sending out rapid slashes at his assailant.

Maneuvering out of the way swiftly, Kanda struggled to move faster and faster, tapping into his life line more and more because of it. Marks could be seen below his eyes, three under each, unaware that his tattoo was growing slowly and slowly larger. Roaring out in pain and anger, another burst of energy similar to the one before spreading out behind like a pair of wings, the energy flowing from between the two blades. Charging forward, he didn't stop as he began slashing the Noah in disguise, crossed wounds appearing on his body. Eventually this drained the Noah most of his strength, his body only being fast enough to heal wounds that were only to be reopened by the exorcist's blade.

Miss stepping, he fell to his knees, only to have Kanda have his two blades crossed in a scissor like formation, his head in between the swords. Breathing gasp of air, Wisely finally allowed his appearance to return to normal, a wavering smile on his face as he remained knelt before Kanda. Kanda was panting for breath, struggling to remain standing as his power died down, his eyes taking on a more duller tone.

"Go ahead, you know you want to. It just won't ever make a difference. I'll always come back to my Master's side in the end. There is no destroying us!" taunted Wisely, ignoring the fact that he was sweating due to nerves for being in a situation such as this one.

"No, but I can make you shut up for a while." replied Kanda as he swiftly uncrossed his blades, abruptly ending the person's life the Noah of Wisdom had possessed. Head falling to the ground, Kanda looked to it in disgust before kicking it away, that and its body slowly exploding into dust as he did so.

Sighing, he struggled to remain standing despite the fact that he was tired, in pain, and covered in blood. But he couldn't stop, he couldn't give up and quit. He still had to fight in this battle. He couldn't give up even if it killed him. For the sake of this world he had been unwillingly brought back into, he would fight. After all, he wanted to see the women again. And figure out the meaning of this dream he had had that included Lavi, Allen and Lenalee.

"Kanda, are you alright?"

Turning, he saw Allen and oddly Lenalee come rushing towards him. Despite all his will power, a smirk came onto his face, his eyes slowly reopening to become half-lidded as he gave a small inclination of a nod. This left them thinking he was delirious or something for his lack of cursing and threats. Maybe he just needed to take a moment to sit a rest, despite how chaotic it was out here.

"Don't use those questions so openly moyashi. You might want to save them for yourself. Now get out of the way!" retorted Kanda before limping off, will and strength keeping him going. The two of them watched him go before turning to each other, mix feelings on Allen's part as he watched her breathe rather harshly. It made him only want her back in the Asian Branch even more.

"Lenalee, I wish you hadn't come. You aren't taking your health seriously. You've only just given birth about a day or two ago."

"Allen you worry too much. I'll be fine. Like I said, I can manage. You cannot do this without me." She replied, determination in her features. _'I beg to differ, it almost worked.'_ He thought as he let out an exasperated sigh. There was no convincing her to turn back, even if it was far too late.

*&*

"_I suffer to survive, I gotta gotta gotta stay alive. I hear the battle cries. Their fists are in the sky. I know what I'm fighting for."_

_-Papa Roach: No more Secrets_

Tyki groaned as he destroyed another akuma, wiping his forehead with the back of his innocence activated hand. Katie and Thomas fell into step behind him as ran forward, Thomas shooting at stray akuma while Katie sliced them in half or sent them flying over to Chaoji. This was their basic sense of strategy, choosing to stick together due to their inexperience in hopes that it would keep them all alive. But eventually fate seemed to have other plans.

"Having fun there brother?"

The former Noah stopped in his tracks, his two companions following suit as the three of them wheeled around to find themselves face to face with Cyril. Grimacing in anger, Tyki stepped forward, switching into a protective stance while he was now in front of his two younger companions.

"Cyril! What do you want?"

"Relax dear brother, I only wanted to see how you were doing. That, and to kill you."

"Why am I not surprised." surmised Tyki as he charged forward, the two brothers not hesitating to attack one another. Katie and Thomas followed willingly as well, unable to leave their companion alone with the Noah.

This wasn't exactly what he had wanted to happen, especially with having to worry about the two younger exorcists. Swiping out at Cyril, he dodged before punching out at Katie, getting her straight in the face. Falling to the floor, he spun and sent a jab at Thomas, sending him flying. Using the opening he had made, Tyki lunged forward and with all his might threw himself at his brother. Knocking them both to the floor, he proceeded to pin him to the ground before he was kicked in the chest. Rolling off him, he proceeded to ensnare a chunk of earth before launching out at Cyril.

Unable to maneuver out of the way in time, the Noah unwillingly allowed himself to be covered by the earth for a moment as Tyki got to his feet. Bursting through the earth soon after, the two brothers went after each other, once more. Thomas, after having gotten to his feet, began firing arrows at the Noah, Cyril ignoring the stinging pain in favor of focusing on fighting his brother. Slashing out wildly with his large paw-like hands, Tyki became caught up with fighting his brother. Cyril was also, despite the fact that he was being barraged by two other exorcists.

"You are a shame dear brother. I can't seem to fathom why you were taken into that false ruler's arms. You are a blight in this world that needs to be eradicated."

"I may be a blight in this world, but I'm not going anywhere. Not until I take you with me."

"I won't be going down so easily."

"Neither will I."

Arms becoming a more lethal form, he swiped forward, his hand being caught by Cyril's grasp. Kneeing him in the opening of his armor, he grabbed hold of his hooded cloak before tossing him aside with all his might. But before he could get too far enough, he stepped on the end of the cloak, abruptly ending his travel with an added choke. Gargling out in pain and suffocation, he fell onto his back as Katie took his place in fighting the Noah.

"Why hello there little one. I don't think you were the one I had in mind to battle. But I'm more than willing to do the dance of death with you!" stated Cyril with a smirk as he grabbed hold of her scythe as it came crashing down.

Smirk growing by the second as he steadily began overpowering the low ranking exorcist. Punching and kicking, he snagged an arrow from the sky before it had a chance to pierce into his body. Tossing it aside, he knocked his adversary to the ground and proceeded to grab a hold of her arms. Twisting them, his Noah powers kicked in and soon enough, both of Katie's arms were broken.

Crying out in pain and misery, she remained on the snow covered floor, her scythe falling out of her hands. Taking pleasure in her pain, he then grabbed her by her throat and lifted her up into the air, her cries increasing in volume as her arms hung limply at her sides. Appearance becoming twisted and demented due to the Noah genes taking pleasure in this abuse, he increased his grip around her neck until suddenly, a loud crack filled the area. This seized her cries and struggling, her body becoming startlingly limp.

Tyki watched with anger and distaste as his brother tossed the now dead exorcist aside, his foot stomping down on the scythe infused with innocence. Tears of hot anger rolled down his cheeks as he righted himself, Thomas a little ways away frozen in shock and fear. Scrabbling to his feet he tackled Cyril to the ground, his anger fuelling his actions and his innocence. He wasn't about to stand another person dying while he had a chance to stop it. The people he shared allegiance with, the people that were hardly enthralled by his existence, would be what he would protect. They would be what he was fighting for.

"I'm going to kill you." seethed Tyki through tightly clenched teeth.

"I'd like to see you try."

*&*

"_There's nothing left to lose. The fight never ends. I can't face the dark without you."_

_-Breaking Benjamin: Without You_

The Earl stood with his arms folded behind his back, amusement seen on his always smiling face. All this destruction and chaos was filling him with ecstasy. So much people that would be wiped out of the way so that he wouldn't have to do it himself later just made him even happier. He couldn't picture the final act in any other way, this was just perfect. But it was missing it's starring characters. What was taking them so long?

"Earl!"

Turning at the sound of his title being called, his grin seemed to grow in size, if that was even possible. Right on time too. He had been starting to fear that they wouldn't make it on time. Standing before him was none other than Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee, the starring roles of this divine play.

"My, my, my, if it isn't the two thorns that have been stuck on my side for who knows how long. How are you two doing? I see someone must've had a baby already." stated the Earl, the comment only making Allen step forward into a protective stance in front of Lenalee.

"Well you look mighty fancy there lad. Wishing to be a knight of King Arthur now?" he teased as they began circling each other, neither one deterring the other's gaze.

Averting his gaze finally to the side, Allen looked to Lenalee for a moment as a way of silently asking her if she was ready. She gave a determined nod in response, the two of them looking back to the Millennium Earl before their appearances started to shift. And before he knew it, they were both in their Heart transformation, both of them glaring at the duke of time angrily. It was show time.

Pouncing forward, Allen latched onto the fat Earl as Lenalee jumped to the skies, plunging down at a high speed. But somehow the Earl managed to get out of his hold and had summoned his sword just in time before he was squash by the other half of the Heart. Blocking the attack, he swung his sword around and knocked Lenalee away from him, Allen swiping out at him because of it. Baring his fanged teeth at his enemy as he was sent skidding back, he growled out like a wild animal before bounding forward once more, Lenalee keeping him distracted as he did so.

But all he managed to do was knock off his hat, rolling across the floor before righting himself up, only to have Lenalee knocked into him. Both fell backwards, tangling into each other as they rolled across the floor. Before they had a chance to get back up, the Earl's sword plunged forward, intending to sink into one of them. But Allen switched positions with Lenalee, his body moving over hers as he blocked her from the sword. Blade sinking into the armor and into his scarred back, he gritted his teeth in pain but otherwise didn't make any cry or scream.

Lifted and flung away, the Earl went to swing his sword into Lenalee but she had risen to her feet and was now kicking her fiercest. Once he was finally knocked away a couple of feet, she rushed over to Allen, helping him get back to his feet. Unable to remain standing still for long, he draped an arm across her shoulders while she kept him standing by holding onto his belt. The armor began repairing itself soon after, blocking any further blood from rolling down past the once open hole in the armor. Though the pain was still there.

As the Earl got to his feet, he charged forward, Allen doing the same as he call forth the sword of exorcism. The sword itself had changed, keeping the same design and color scheme, but more transparent and crystalline. But it seemed heavier than usual, calling forth more strength than he could give. This becoming evident when the two blades clashed and Allen's hold began shaking violently as he struggled to keep the other blade away from him.

The wound from his back was causing him immense pain, not helping the fact that his grip was wavering. But that didn't last for long. Lenalee stepped forward, lending her strength into the sword. Pressing forward, the two opposing sides began evening out until it became a stalemate. Huffing, both sides continued fighting for control, something neither of them could truly obtain at the rate they were going.

"One of us is going to have to relent. And it's not going to be me!" stated the Earl before he slid his blade down theirs, the weapon skidding down Lenalee's arm and sinking into her chest. Gasping in shock and in pain, she was sent flying back by a might swing from the Earl, stopping in the snow only when she lost momentum.

Curling up into a ball in pain, she cried as her blood began seeping into the snow. Allen stood frozen as he watched her crumpled form, unaware of the impending attack that was drawing nearer and nearer. Sword slashing deep across his abdomen, he was sent tumbling to the side, his sword flying out of his grasp and into the snow. Hissing out in pain, he struggled to get back up and over to his love, even though his body was starting to fail him.

Staggering to his feet, he was soon assailed by punches, his face turning from the harsh blows and blood proceeding to fly out of his mouth. Coughing, he weakly grabbed hold of his enemy's clenched fist, preventing it from coming into contact with his face again. Panting and weak kneed, he used what was left of his strength to pull the Earl forward and tossing him away, he feat that only caused his wounds to bleed even more.

Huffing as he did so, he struggled to remain standing as he made his way over to Lenalee. Once he had made it to her, he fell to his knees, pulling her close and into his arms. Her face was scrunched up in pain, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tremblingly brought a hand up to his cheek. Stroking it, a smile came upon her face before she slowly got to her feet, though her body appeared to be unwilling to. Then it occurred to him as his own body pulled itself back up to his feet, that the innocence wasn't about to stop. Not until it was over.

Both now up on their feet, they turned to see the Earl do the same, a wicked grin on his face. His face was dyed with their blood, his eyes bulging now that his glasses were nowhere to be found. But he was in a better shape than they were, much more capable of continuing on. Sluggishly the two of them pulled out the sword of exorcism, using what little of their strength was left to hold it up. But it seemed like it would become too much as they swayed until it their arms looked like it was about to drop the blade. Then help came.

"Hang in there guys, the battle is half way done. So stay strong!" encouraged Lavi as he lent his strength into holding the sword.

"Can't die on us now. Not after all your talk about staying alive moyashi." added Kanda, one arm holding the sword while the other was used to support Lenalee.

The four of them together started to glow, their power transferring into the blade. It gave the two Generals strength, just enough to continue on. Eyes flashing, the two of them charged forward while Lavi and Kanda fell to their hands and knees, all but exhausted. Running as fast as they could, they made their way to the Earl, he doing the same with his own sword drawn back. As soon as the two swords came into contact, an flash of light consumed them all, the force sending Lavi and Kanda back. What happened next, they could not say. But it certainly was spectacular.

*&*

"_Love can touch us one time. And last for a lifetime. And never let go until we're gone."_

_-Celine Dion: My heart will go on_

Allen, Lenalee, and the Earl stood, their backs facing each other. Neither moved until Lenalee collapsed to the ground in defeat, the Earl falling onto one knee as she did so. Allen remained standing, his body stark still until he slowly turned around, revealing a huge gash that ran down his chest to his right thigh. His face was covered in blood, his features slowly turning back to normal. But slowly his eyes became distant, as if gazing out at something that could not be seen. While this happened the Earl got to his feet, one hand pressed to his chest as he struggled to hold his sword. Upon seeing Allen though, his features relaxed and he soon broke out into laughter.

"This is it, I've won. While you died standing. Haha now nothing shall stand in my way!"

'_Think again."_

When hearing the strange voice he froze, confused by where it had came from. Turning side to side, he suddenly turned to Allen upon catching something from the corner of his eye. Then his eyes widened in shock, unable to grasp what was going on. Allen's innocence was degrading away from his body, Lenalee's doing the same, the two pieces coming together to form a transparent, crystalline body of a male, wings sprouting from his maroon red back.

Standing before him, he brought forth the sword of exorcism, brandishing it with ease as he stared at the Earl. His whole appearance comprised of mixed and matched pieces of their innocence, creating a completely different form. The only thing that had a distinct color besides red was a silver eye accompanied by a violet one, both flashing as if they had fire within them. Wordlessly he brought his sword up, a mask falling over his eyes as he hovered over the ground, preparing to attack.

The Earl just stood in shock, unable to do anything as this strange being came zooming forward, sword drawn and ready to kill. Slicing him straight down the middle, the strange being fell gently to his feet, turning to look over his shoulder as the Earl dropped his sword. A thin line of blood could be seen sliding down the middle of his face before suddenly, he screamed out in pain. Falling to his knees, he clutched his face as his form began degrading.

"This is isn't over! I'll be back, you'll see. But until then, I curse you, child of Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee. For you shall be the first I come after as soon as I return." moaned the Millennium Earl as he began fading away.

'_And I'll be waiting.'_

Once he was completely gone, the strange being faded away, the particles that had once been the innocence flying away, carried off by the wind. Soon after an implosion ensued, a mass of dark matter flying up into the sky before dispersing outwards. The sky grew darker and soon enough, snow began tumbling down, harder than it had been before.

Awareness returned to Allen, the left side of his body numb and unaware that his arm was missing. Looking up at the sky he closed his eyes in contentment before turning it over to Lenalee barely conscious on the ground beside him. Sighing, he couldn't stop himself from falling onto his back, his legs having buckled underneath him. Breathing heavily and harshly, he turned his head to the side, gaze falling on the person he loved.

"Lenalee…it's over. It's…all…over…" choked Allen as tears of joy streamed down his face. She looked to him exhausted, a smile gracing her lips as the two of them drew closer together. Soon they were in each other's arms, holding each other close as they relaxed into the embrace. Huffing, he struggled to hold her close, despite the fact that he only had one arm. That's why he couldn't stop a note from flying out of a nook in his armor, carried off by the wind. But he took no notice of it, instead choosing to place his lips against hers for what felt like one last time.

"I love you Lenalee Lee."

"I love you Allen Walker."

Sighing, both young adult's eye lids slowly drifted close, both of them staying close together before it was their time to depart. Before it was time to make it to God's opened arms.

*&*

"_I do believe in the light. Raise your hands up to the sky. The fight is done, the war is won."_

_-30 seconds to mars: This is war_

Komui watched as each individual akuma exploded into nothingness, the Noah scattered about falling to their hands and knees as they clutched their heads in pain. Eyes rolling to the back of their heads, they fell forward as their features began transforming back into their former selves. He would've been alarm by the fact that one very important one was missing but right now he didn't care. He had to make sure Allen was alright. If he wasn't, then this would shatter his sister into pieces that could not be put back together.

Rushing past over to where the area the implosion had taken place, he pushed past people struggling to remain standing and over people who had fallen. Panic was starting to fill him as he couldn't find where he was, desperation increasing. Then he came into Lavi and Kanda, both of which were now struggling to get to their feet. Moving towards them, he helped them both to their feet before asking them where he was.

"He should be over there." replied Lavi as the trio began moving over to where he and Kanda had last seen him. But what they found caused them all to freeze in their place.

"No…NO!!!!" cried Komui as he ran forward, stumbling in his haste before sliding down beside his defeated sister. Scooping her up into his arms, tears began pouring down his face as he held her close. Shoulders shaking, he lifted his head up and cried up into the sky in anguish.

Lavi looked to the trio in shock, his eyes wide and shaking as he fell to his knees, unable to accept what he saw. Breath hitching in his chest, his eye began watering up until he couldn't fight any longer. Tears streamed down his face, his armored frame trembling as he slammed his fists to the snow covered ground, a scream rolling past his lips and up to the sky. No, this could not be happening, not again. Not after this damn war was over.

They could not be dead.

Cheers of victory could be heard all around them, everyone other than themselves aware of the fact that the reason they had won, the people they had to thank were gone. Kanda looked away, gritting his teeth before he began walking away. He couldn't stand to see another sight of this any longer. He had to go somewhere, anywhere, to escape what he had seen.

The war was over. It was time to rest and mourn the people that they had lost. To the mourn the two Generals that had gone.

_Author's Note: I will be making an epilogue so don't worry. Are they dead? Are they alive? You'll have to wait and see. Until then, speculate all you want. Love's Sorrowful Symphony has drawn to a close. Now awaits the next and final chapter to this d. gray-man trilogy._


	44. Epilogue

Epilogue:

"_If God has a master plan. That only He understands. I hope it's your eyes he's seeing through."_

_-Depeche Mode: Precious_

Lavi stood inside Komui's office, staring at the Chief as he awaited his words to begin. It's been about a month since the suppose end of the war. Many people had sacrificed their lives for the greater good, and were now in the hands of God. Though something told him that this wasn't truly over. After all, the innocence still remained. But the Heart has disappeared once more, gone before they had a chance to find out where it had taken off to.

The thought of innocence made his hand drift up to his neck, his fingers running across the metallic collar that remained snuggly wrapped around his throat. Ever since he discovered that his once equipment type innocence had transformed into a crystal type, his urge to leave had increase. He didn't want to go hunt monsters anymore. At least not yet. Right now he wanted to rest, and possibly get back to his duties as a Bookman. Even if the exorcist side of him wish to stay. Especially with…

"As you know, there's really no need to stay here anymore Lavi. I wouldn't hold it against you if you left. Kanda has already done so. I, on the other hand, am staying here for reasons I cannot say."

"Cut the bull shit Komui, I know why you are staying here." stated Lavi darkly, Komui's face becoming pained as he turned away. Yes, there was a very good reason why he was staying here while almost everyone else was not.

"Lavi, you were only included in the loop because you are a Bookman. If you were not then you would still be under the illusion like the rest of them. Now don't test my patience Bookman!" replied Komui heatedly. Ever since the end of the war and a few other arrangements, he's been rather colder. And much more distant.

"You can't honestly go with what central is asking you to do can you?! You'll only tarnish all that they have done. Think of –"

"Who the hell do you think I'm doing this for?! This is for their sake and as long as everyone is left in the dark about this, no one will question what has become of them."

"This is insane! Do you honestly believe people won't question? That when he's older he won't question who and where his parents are? You can't hide the truth forever!" yelled Lavi as he slammed his fists down against Komui's desk, knocking down new files that had been placed on the new desk. The files fell to the floor, revealing individual and status information on two people.

The two of them stared at it, Lavi with disgust and Komui with shame as he bent down and collect the two individual files. Closing the two, he shoved them inside a secret hiding space within the desk before turning his back to the Bookman. Arms folding behind his back and gaze staring out of the window at the autumn-ish features of China. That soon switched over to the row of graves that lined the outer edge, underneath a cherry blossom tree. The sight made his eye water, sorrow filling his countenance as he looked to the mementos of fallen friends and comrades.

"You're right, I can't hide it forever. I can only forestall it. The truth will come out eventually, just not today." replied Komui, his back still to Lavi.

"This isn't right!"

"Nothing seems to be right anymore. But if you're going to keep denying what has already happen then it's better that you just leave."

"When are you going to open your eyes? Central is only doing this because of what has happened to them. They suspect that the Heart will make its way to him and that with family out of the way, he'll be much more susceptible to doing what they want. But what those bastards don't know is that it's going to the complete opposite. It's going to make him want to know even more!"

"Shut up! They aren't in isolation because of that. They're there because they need help, they need to awaken and that's just what they'll do. They're going to make them better!" denied Komui, even though a part of him knew it was true.

"Wake up and smell the coffee, Komui! Are you so deep in denial that you refuse to believe anything else?" demanded Lavi, anger flashing in his emerald eye, his teeth gnashing down hard that when his teeth rubbed against each other wrongly, he bit his lip. Splitting it, blood began trickling down in crimson beads. Unnoticed and forgotten.

"Get. Out." stated Komui, emphasizing the two words through clenched teeth. He had had just about enough of this. He was past his own breaking point.

"What?"

"I SAID GET OUT! YOU'RE UNWANTED AND UNWELCOME HERE ANYMORE BOOKMAN!!!!" yelled Komui as he turned on him. Anguish and sorrow were pooling in his eyes, tears of anger and sadness finally sliding down his face as he ordered Lavi to leave.

Startled by the sudden fiercest in his former commander's eyes, he bowed his head. Hair overcastting in his eyes, he mumbled an alright before turning away. Slowly and forcibly he made himself move, body still sore even after a month's rest. Making it to the door, he stopped for a moment, fist clenching for a moment before he continued onward. He had a few places to visit before he truly left. Arrangements had to be made and plans had to be carried out. He didn't have a whole lot of time.

*&*

Lavi stood before the row of graves, the front and only line dedicated to the exorcists that had fallen during the battle. He took a moment to stare at each one, giving individual prayers to each individual. A total of 7 graves stood underneath the cherry blossom tree, each no important than the one before or next to them. Among them read the following:

Arystar Krory

Katherine Jones

Klaud Nine

Zokalo Winters

Chaoji

Allen Walker

Lenalee Lee

The two final graves made Lavi's blood boil, his anger rising by the second. Why should this masquerade be continued? This isn't honorable nor was it hardly right. Sooner or later someone would begin to ask questions, and eventually the truth will spread. But for today, it would remain as nothing more than an elusive scandal. One that Lavi could hardly condone to.

Sighing, he ran his hands across every single one of them before stopping at the sound of approaching footsteps. Turning, he noticed that it was Tyki and Thomas that were making their way towards him. Straightening up, he watched as the two slowly approached. Tyki was currently having to use a crutch, an arm left in as a sling while a side of his face was bandaged, hiding a ugly scar that was on his cheek. Thomas had his whole upper body bare, bandages traipsing all around his chest and back. Some gauze could be seen on his face, covering up a would be scar that ran across the bridge of his nose and then down from in-between his eyebrows all the way to the tip of his nose. Just like a cross.

"So you're leaving eye patch?" asked Tyki nervously, his gaze falling down to the marker with his master's name on it. Eyes softening, he shook the look away before turning back to Lavi, eager to learn his answer.

"Yeah, there's nothing left for me here."

"Then let me come with you. I can't stay here but I have nowhere else to go." begged Tyki, eyes now pleading. Lavi looked to him incredulously, his gaze shifting to Thomas who was now looking to his feet guiltily.

"Why'd you tell him Thomas. I only meant for you to come!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't refuse a friend." apologized Thomas, only causing the Bookman to sigh. The kid was far too nice for his own good.

"Look, Tyki, I really don't need anyone else. Thomas is only coming along with me because I'm in the midst of making a very important decision and I need his help. Besides, it seems that I'm no longer wanted here. So I'll need someone I can trust on the inside. You do understand right?"

"Sort of I guess. Though I don't see why you need someone like me to trust. I don't even know what you're talking about. But I guess it's some Bookman thing I can't know about. Alright, what is it that I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on?"

"Anything out of the ordinary. Like if central visits or something. But above all, make sure you keep an eye on Komui. Be there with him at all times, as much as you can."

"Why, what's wrong with him?"

"He's…a little a emotional right now. And it's clouding his judgment at the moment. Just make sure he at least stays rational for a while. If you need help, just ask for Bak to assist you. He knows Komui probably better than anyone at the moment." instructed Lavi, his voice ever bit serious as he said this. Though Tyki didn't quite understand the true intention of this, he decided it was better to go along than against. At least it gave him something to do.

"Alright, I'll do what I can."

"That's all I ask." He said. "Thomas, it's time to go but we've got one more stop to go before we leave."

Before long the pair was setting out, Thomas shuffling after Lavi as the older teen continued to make long strides. He didn't have much time left. It was becoming ever the more crucial by the second. Time was of the essence.

*&*

Checking if the close was clear, Lavi silently slid into the currently vacant room, save for some machines that were running. Walking over to it, he gazed down hesitantly at the small yet steadily growing form of his god son. In the month following the battle he had started showing vast signs of improvement, his vitals steadily growing stronger and stronger by the day. But his growing health was the only thing good that came out of all this. The same couldn't be said about his parents.

Cursing at the thought, he took deep breaths to calm himself. Slowly, he ran a thumb across the black fuzz that was his hair, the strands soft and silky to the touch. He was sleeping at the moment, in perpetual peace in a world that was better than the one that they all lived in. Even if the war was supposively over. There was still things that had to be done.

Carefully he lowered his hands down to his bundled frame, grabbing him gently before lifting him up into his arms. Pulling him close once he did so, he wrapped his red scarf around his blankets to give him a boosted warmth, and also as a means of concealing him for now. Once secure in his arms, he turned to leave, time steadily running out.

"Alright, it's time you and I go. After all, we've got a long journey ahead of us."

Pushing past the door, he began running down the empty halls, heading straight for the entrance. Hoping that he would remain asleep, he struggled to subdue his pace but still remain going fast. Turning down halls at the slightest sound of someone coming, he soon found his way down a corridor he wasn't all that familiar with. Groaning in frustration and his current lack of a sense of direction, he took the first corner he saw, hoping that he'd find a familiar route.

But eventually, as he ran down another unfamiliar hallway, he found himself face to face with a restricted door. And at that moment he knew where he was, his blood running cold because of it. Sighing, he leaned his forehead against the door, catching his breath before he doubled back to the right direction.

"I promise, I'll take care of him until you both return from wherever it is you are now. I won't forget you." muttered Lavi as he stepped back, a tear running down his cheek before he started heading back, this time knowing where he was going.

When he reached the entranced of the Asian Branch, Thomas was already waiting, already nervous as it is. As soon as he spotted Lavi he seem to perk up in relief, ready follow the Bookman wherever he went. But that changed when he realized that he had been crying from the looks of it. He tried asking about it, but he would just say it was nothing and drop it at that. When he tried asking what he was holding, he only answered with an 'I'll tell you in a little while'.

Without further questions, the two of them took off, fleeing into the twilight. Neither one knew where to go or where they were even heading, all they knew was that they were going somewhere. To places that were probably better than staying in a place as sad as the Order. When they would be back, both were unsure. All they knew was that there was still a world out there that needed to be recorded. And possibly defend if it was necessary and the darkness that was the Earl returned.

One could never be too sure.

*&*

Komui stood in front of a sealed door, indecision in his features before he began planted his hand against the bare wall. A once invisible keypad appeared, revealing it's position from underneath his hand. Pressing a few keys, the door slid open, and a whoosh of air following it as oxygen from outside rushed in. Stepping forward stiffly, the door slid close behind as he made his way over to a tomb like structure situated in the center of the empty white room.

Pressing another series of buttons, the glass case that covered the top of the metallic tomb slid down, uncovering the person laying inside. Pulling a chair up, he sat down and took a moment to gaze down at the person before running his hand through the hair of the person. When he tired of this he proceeded to grab the hand of the person that was laying there in between his own.

Lying there in a vegetative state, with eyes staring up at nothing was his little sister, Lenalee Lee. Where Allen was, he could not say. All that he cared about now was the recovery of his sister. Even if it seemed impossible. Even if it was practically improbable. He just needed to remain hopeful. If not, then there was nothing left for him to live for. Nothing to keep him tide to this place or this realm.

But maybe, just maybe, hope will prevail. In the end.

*&*

A young teenage girl continued walking down a bustling streets, a cheerful gait in her step. She was absolutely pleasant, even if she wasn't free like her other brothers and sisters. At least she was still a corporeal being. But she couldn't be more happier when a presence approached her.

"Excuse me, miss, but something tells me I have to go with you." replied a older figure of a man, a hand pressed against the side of his head, a look of discomfort on his clean shaven face.

"I've been expecting you…Lord Millennium."

_Author's Note: Just to be clear, though he's returned in the form of a different man, doesn't mean his full capabilities have returned as well. He's got a while before he remembers his previous life completely. But so yeah, this is the end of Love's Sorrowful Symphony. To learn the answers to many unanswered questions this has aroused, you'll just have to read the sequel. Hope you all enjoyed and I just want to thank all that reviewed. I'll try posting it as soon as I can, but definitely by the weekend._


	45. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hello to all my faithful and loyal fans, I'm please to inform you that I have decided that, in and if next couple of weeks permitted, I will begin revising and fixing all plot holes within both _Doubt and Trust_ and _Love's Sorrowful Symphony_. Both will be titled _Re: Doubt and Trust_ and _Re: Love's Sorrowful Symphony_ and both will be elaborated on as best and as much as I can.

I was originally just going to fix the spelling and grammar errors, but then I realized that I really wanted sit down and actually, seriously revise it. That's why there is a distinct possibility that I'll be adding much detailed scenes and interactions. And maybe, if I get down to, even throwing in a new chapter every now and again to fix some of my forgotten plot holes within both stories.

I hope this bides well with everyone and that you're for this extreme clean up. I know I still have other projects at the moment, but I would really like to this. My conscious will never rest until I have down this. And it will be a nice change in pace when it comes to the repetitive routine of updating the same three stories.

Please look out for the distant bay of this howling wolf.

Howlingwolf94


End file.
